Fairy Tail: The Sequel
by Tyoung32
Summary: The sequel to the White Eclipse arc. Six months have passed since the apocalypse. Everything was back to normal in Fiore, except for some minor changes...
1. Chapter 1

Fairy Tail: The sequel

Chapter 1: Pilot.

Exactly six months have passed since Natsu and the mages survived the apocalypse created by Zeref and the attack by the dragon Acnologia. Everything seemed to have reverted back to it's normal routines as Magnolia was rebuilt surprisingly fast thanks to the help of the mages. Everything was back into it's normal swing, except for a few "minor" changes.  
Natsu and Mirajane walk down the main street of Magnolia, blending in with the crowds of people waking past and away from them. The pink haired mage was carrying two full brown bags full of groceries with a look of annoyance as Mirajane kept her cheery smile. "I'm still not used to it." Natsu huffed out. "He wasn't even there, and we did all the work. Why doesn't anyone believe the truth!?"  
"Keep your voice down, Natsu." Mirajane says with her patented smile. "You don't want to start another uproar."  
The dragon slayer snarls a bit as he readjusted the bags in his hands. "But Mira, why is he a hero? He tried to kill us all, and he didn't fight Zeref or Acnologia! He didn't even fight a single demon!"  
"Hey!" A random council guard who was patrolling the streets caught whim of Natsu's statement and quickly made his way over to the two Fairy Tail mages. "I know you're not soiling our hero's name /again/ are you, Natsu Dragneel!?"  
A wave of silence quickly surrounded the area as all eye fell on Natsu and the council guard now standing merely feet away from each other. A sly grin came across Natsu's face, but before he could respond, Mirajane stepped in between them both, smiling sincerely towards the council soldier. "He isn't. We're sorry for any inconvenience sir. We're leaving anyways to head back to the guild, so you won't hear from us the rest of the day."  
"Mira." Natsu shuffled the bags around his hands as he watched her and the guard in front of her. The random soldier gave her a quick look over, and then turned his head as he began to walk away. "I better not. You Fairy Tail mages are always trouble. Our savior is a busy man, we don't have time to keep these streets clean with your dirty Fairy Tail paws all over them."  
"What did you-"  
Natsu was close to snapping, yet Mirajane stopped him once again as she fought to keep the smile on her face. "I understand, we'll be leaving now. Come Natsu." The takeover mage bows to the guard, and then begins walking away with Natsu following seconds after.  
"That's what I'm talking about!" Natsu exclaimed again. "He didn't even do anything!"  
"Natsu..if Fiore and EarthLand want to give Siegrain the credit for defeating Zeref and Acnologia, then let them. We all know what you did, and everyone is safe. That's all that matters to us." She turned to the Dragon Slayer and gave him a soft, endearing smile before turning back around. "We aren't about taking credit anyways, you know that."  
"Yeah but..." Natsu lowered his head, finally giving in to the debate.  
"Now, lets get back to the guild so I can finish preparing everything."  
"Aye.."

.

I'm...EXHAUSTED!" Luke gasped for air as he fell to his back in the snow. The others were already there, panting and gasping for air as Cygnus brings up the rear, face planting into the snow. It was another snowy day in the mountains as the White Eclipse members all laid in front of Reve and Taya. Taya stood with her arms crossed as Reve held his on his hips, tapping his foot until Cygnus finished. "You clowns can't be exhausted already? We only have about five months until the next Grand Magic Games. Come on, this is just a warmup."  
"Screw...your warmup." Takeru huffed out as he continued to pant, holding himself up on his hands and knees.  
Zalen stood up, but held himself up by propping his hands on his knees, feeling more than exhausted as he huffed continuously. "At least it's Reve and not Sidney. At times like this, I'm glad he went back to traveling."  
"What can be worse than this?" Kairi asked as her and Selene used each other as support.  
"You don't wanna know." Waiston replied as he and Jaxon did the same, holding each other up as they struggled to regain their breath.  
"Alright, enough talk. Now that cardio is out the way. We can... Oh wait, we have a few stragglers it seems." Reve says as he peers behind the group. Trudging behind, was a girl with long dark pink, nearly red hair, and blue eyes. On her left shoulder, she held the White Eclipse guild mark. Just in front of her were two more girls. One of them had much lighter pink hair and blue eyes with her guild mark located on her left hand. The other, who led the stragglers, had long, red-violet hair and plum colored eyes.  
Finally, bringing up the rear, was a young male. He had black hair, matching his black eyes. He was the last one to finish as he panted heavily along with the rest of them.  
"Shizuku, Asamì, Saeko, and Almaz...all in that order." Taya says as she slightly shakes her head.  
"Okay, is everyone here now? Where's Clover?" Reve asked.  
"Clover's right there." Taya pointed. Clover waved as he sat in the snow next to Kuro and Heather. The dark red haired, green eyed mage gave a grin as Reve looked his way.  
"Well then, looks like not all of our newbies are slack." The gunslinger commented.  
"Reve is so cool!" Almaz saysto himself, yet loud enough for the newbies with him to hear. "...He just dissed us." Shizuku added as she side-eyed the fanboy. Reve then cleared his throat to speak once again. "Like I was saying, now that cardio is over, you'll all pair up and spar. Different partners then yesterday of course. Variety will help a lot in your improvement, and don't forget to keep up with your win-loss record."  
As Reve continued drilling the guild members, inside the guild, past the unconscious drunk known as Jack Royal, and down the hall, inside the the last door at the end of the hallway, Master Calium and Aira sat inside. Aira just entered moments ago with a tray of assorted pills with a glass of water and placed them on the stand next to the bed that the old guild master laid on. After performing a coughing fit, Calium turned to the young wind mage with a smile as he picked up a pill. "Thank you, Aira."  
"You don't have to thank me everyday, Master. Just feel better." The wind mage Aira replied.  
"But I do have to thank you, for taking care of all the responsibilities around here while I've been feeling a but under the weather."  
Aira frowned a bit. "You know I don't like it when you try to sugarcoat your illness, Master." She retorted. Calium simply smiled as he swallowed his pill, then chased it with his water. "Reve is being a hard ass to the guild members huh?"  
"Yeah... He really wants to win next year's Grand Magic Games." Aira then stood up to avoid the small talk from Calium's subject change. "I'm going to see how their doing. Call me if you need anything."  
The guild master nods as Aira walks out, closing the door behind her.

.

The three captains, Layanna and Doranbolt walked down the hall, heading towards Seigrain's main office. Lahar held in his hands a small yellow file as he walked with his peers, passing the saluting soldiers that held their post. The blonde haired captain of the third division, Correll, huffed loudly as he placed his hands on the back of his head, interlocking his fingers. "I'm anxious. He better give us the okay to do this finally."  
Odin, the brown haired, bearded captain of the second division sighed a bit as he walked with the others. "I'm not, this can turn out to be a disastrous idea. We aren't expendable."  
"Where's your risky side Odin?" Correll asked in a taunting manner.  
"I left that in the past. Enjoy your youth, brat."  
"I'm with Correll." Lahar stated. "We've had too many close calls in our lives already. We are walking on egg shells now."  
"Blah blah blah." Correll mocks as he steps in front of the group, now walking as if he was the alpha. "You old men are bringing me down. No ones watching over us, we're just living. No one can kill the immortal, you feel me?" The blonde haired mage grinned at his own statement as they turned into a lone hallway. Doranbolt and Layanna stayed quiet the entire time until they reached the main office. Corell swung open the door as he yelled. "Siegrain-Senpai!" Inside, Siegrain was waiting along with Ultear, and the new first division captain, whose face still couldn't be seen as he stood in the shadows behind the dim lighting inside the office. Everyone bows to the "Hero of Fiore" and the new captain before the Lahar handed the blue haired council leader the file. "Sir Siegrain, here's the list of guilds who are willing to participate. The list is a bit shorter than anticipated..."  
As Lahar spoke, Siegrain opened the file as was already looking over the name of the guilds with a grin. "No, this is perfect. This is why we interviewed most of these names at first. I needed strong guilds that didn't have any emotional ties with /them./ Good job, now I have one simple task for you all to do, and that's to head back to these guilds, and let them know that tomorrow is their time. I'll send guards around Fiore to deliver the message to the public."  
Everyone stood and nodded in agreement as Siegrain explained their objectives, and as the council leader slid each captain a file, they all grabbed their's and left. All except the mysterious man that was already in the office with Siegrain. "Well then, First Captain Tobias, it seems everything is coming together. Are you ready for a revolution upon these mages?"  
Tobias steps out of the shadows as Siegrain leaned back into his seat, propping his feet up on the desk. "Yes sir. You know your loyal soldiers are with your decisions one hundred percent."  
"Of course. Now, do me a favor and give the announcement to the guards. Tomorrow is the start of a big day, so I want the messages and flyers out all over Fiore by tonight."  
Tobias bows. "Yes sir." He then heads out to do just what he was ordered, walking by each guard to deliver the message.  
"It's great to be the hero." Siegrain says as he begins a sadistic laughter that echoed around the room continuously. "Welcome, the Siegrain era is finally here."

.  
By nightfall, the captains, along with Layanna and Doranbolt, had made their way around Fiore to nearly all the guilds who agreed to volunteer for what was coming. Passing out numerous flyers, council guards had visited every town and city in Fiore, relaying the same message and giving warnings to stay away if they were against what was coming.  
"You expect us to not do anything!?" Sting yelled as he slammed both of his palms on the table, now facing Lahar eye to eye.  
"All of the other guilds that ally themselves with Fairy Tail and White Eclipse have been warned. I'm just relaying the message to you all now. Stay away from both of them unless you plan to help capture them. If you're found aiding these two dark guilds-"  
"Dark guilds!? Lahar are you blind or stupid!?" Sting interrupted. "They're the reason we're alive! Not Siegrain! You may have the world fooled, but the mages know the truth and that clown of a council leader isn't shit-"  
"Enough!" Lahar roared, cutting the dragon slayer off. "You will not soil the name of Fiore's hero. Do it again and the men I have waiting outside will happily take this whole guild in." He looked around at the mages watching intently before speaking again. "Now, as I was saying. These two dark guilds were the sole reason why Zeref walked among us half a year ago, and if you're found aiding them, you too will be apprehended, clear?"  
Sting didn't say a word as he snared towards the captain. "Good." The captain remarks as he turns to walk away. "I'm sure you know your place in all of this now, so stay there."

Correll made his way up a mountain side, much smaller than that of White Eclipse's. The mountain's were still snowy, but not that much as he could still see the grass and other plants sticking out from the ground. The blonde haired captain came up to a decent sized building. The name on the front, Twilight Zone. He would then walk up the few steps, and then knock on the door three times. As he waited, he could hear the muffled activities going on inside.

"Put him down!"  
"Relax shorty! It's a dog, not a bug! I'm not going to hurt him!"  
"Don't call me shorty you pirate!"

"Will both of you quit it?" Was the last muffled words heard as a short female opened the door to the guild. She had black hair that turned to green at the end. He green eyes matched her hair as she stood, staring at Correll before blinking. "Oh, I remember you from the interrogation."  
"It was merely an interview really." Correll replied before he bowed. "Evanee Carlisle. Always a pleasantry seeing such a beauty."  
"Cut the chit chat Correll, what do you need?"  
"Heh, still the cold one." Correll grinned, and then handed her a file. "That's all the information you need, Ev."  
Evanee then snatched the paper out of Correll's hands and began reading with an emotionless face. "Call me that again and I'll rip your throat out and let the dog eat it." After giving the file a brief look over she nodded. "Alright, anything else?"  
Correll shook his head. "That'll be it."  
"Just remember, Twilight Zone is only doing this because ever since Siegrain and the army have taken complete control, that it's near impossible for anyone to find a decent job. You have the world afraid of mages, and honestly, this isn't helping."  
"Yeah yeah." The captain rolled his eyes. "Just go crazy tomorrow."  
"See ya Correll." Evanee says as she closes the door behind her, leaving Correll outside as he begins to walk back down the mountain side.

.  
Odin had made his way to the outskirts of Clover town. In front of him, was a well sized building with the sign Black Phoenix on the front. Just like Correll, as Odin neared the guild's door, all he could now here was the sound of rambunctious mages inside. He knocked a few times, then waited for someone to answer.

"This isn't the sandwich I asked for twerp!"  
"Master calm down! I'll make another!"  
"Oi...I can never sleep with you people yelling."  
"You're always sleeping. How can you sleep so much?"

Slowly opening the door, was a man. He had dark blond hair and brown eyes and stood just about under six feet tall. "Hm? Odin. How can I help you?"  
"Tristan Gareth. Here you are." Straight to the point, Odin hands Tristan the file. The mage opens the folder and scans through it quickly. "So it's happening huh? That's a shame, but money has to be made."  
Odin nods. "I came here personally, because I know Black Phoenix will be the one with the most captures. Not that it's a competition or anything, but with a guild master like yours... Your infamous sandwich ingredient fund can't be too high right now."  
Tristan cracks a small smile. "You're not kidding. I'll notify the others. See you around Odin."  
Tristan then closed the door as Odin began walking away.

.

The following morning, Lucy was seen tiptoeing the edge of the street that separated the ground from the canal. She was happily humming to herself as she was making her way to Fairy Tail. The blonde haired celestial mage then hopped down as she took back to the street, continuously humming as she marched along. Her marching and humming slowly came to a stop as she looked around while walking, realizing how people were cautiously staring at her. Most of them were holding a piece of paper in their hands. Murmurs and whispers gradually filed the clear Magnolian air as Lucy became more and more weary with everyone around her. "Why is everyone looking at me like I'm some kind of criminal?"  
Just down the street, as Lucy slowly and cautiously made her way forward, a random, stocky and rugged male made his way out of the bar, gulping down the bottle in his hand before throwing it to the side. Behind him, two other guys walked out, a lot smaller than the massive man that walked out first.  
"I'm telling you, this is the dawn of a new era! And I'll be famous within it! They may be mages, but I'll take them down with brute strength!" The bigger male roared. "Just point me to the nearest Fairy!"  
"There you go, boss! She had the guild sign on her hand!" One of the smaller men pointed after spotting Lucy on the other side of the street. He pulled out a crumbled piece of paper from his pocket and scanned it over until spotting Lucy's face. "Oh ho! Twenty thousand jewel huh? Not much, but it's a start!"  
"Well boss? Go get her!" The second of the two smaller men commanded.  
"Shut up!" The bigger one yelled. "I run this group!" He then began walking towards Lucy nonchalantly. "Besides!" Before Lucy could turn around, the man grabbed both of her wrists. "Hey! What are you doing!?" Lucy squealed as he lifted her up slightly, causing her to dangle.  
"She's just a celestial mage! She's useless if she can't get to her keys!"  
The girth heavy male began laughing as Lucy kicked around, trying to break free. "Put me down! I didn't do anything to you!"  
"No but you're going to make me twenty thousand jewel richer!" He roared as he continued laughing. "Come on. Lets collect what's ours and-"  
Before the man could finish his sentence, a right fists slams into his jaw, causing him to drop Lucy right before the impact of the punch lifted the burly man off his feet and back across the street until he slammed against the bar wall. "B-Boss!" The two smallers yelled out. As they looked back, they began to shiver as Natsu and Happy stood across from them. Natsu was cracking his knuckles as Lucy made her way to her feet. "Natsu."  
"Why are you attacking Lucy?" The dragon slayer asked in a demanding tone. The two began to shake and stutter, unable to give him an answer due to the fear. "Fools!" The bigger man yells as he makes his way back to his base. "There's three of us and two of them!"  
"I'm here too!" Happy yelled as he raised a paw. "That won't be needed Happy. These guys are no trouble at all. I'll handle them alone."  
"What did you say!?"  
The pedestrians quickly clear out, giving room to the disturbance. The three then surround Natsu as the dragon slayer grins. He crouched a bit as he gestured them to come at him with both hands. "Well!? Lets go! I'm all fired up!"

Just above, as Natsu was about to begin his brawl in the Magnolian streets, a shadowy figure stood unseen on the roof of the bar, watching intently.

Meanwhile, just in front of the White Eclipse guild, the members have just finished their cardio, once again exhausted as they all panted heavily; some falling to the ground comically as they gasped for air. "Just when we've gotten used to running one mountain, the hard ass makes us run three." Cygnus says in a whining tone. Reve laughs a bit to himself before straightening up in front of his guild mates. "Everyone here?"  
Almaz stumbles in from behind, signifying himself as the last person as he face plants into the snow, then giving a thumbs up as he let out a muffled "here!"  
"Alright. Once again, you're going to partner up and spar. Different partners as always, and keep count...of your..." Reve's words trail off as he begins to squint past the guild members and into the blinding snowfall. Eyes were on Reve as Taya leaned towards him. "You okay gunslinger?" The dark vector mage asked.  
Reve's precision eyes began to shift every which way as he stayed quiet for a few seconds. A small grin then etched upon his face. "Change of plans. It's time for your first scrimmage."  
"Huh?" The mages looked at one another with confused expressions, then back at the grinning guns requip mage.  
"It seems that we have company." Reve said as he nodded his head forward. The mages turned around, and spotted now visible figures running towards them. "I don't know how many they are, but they aren't White Eclipse so you shouldn't have any problem with them."  
"Finally!" Almaz yelled as he leaped to his feet as if he was never tired. "Time to be a real hero! Stand back and watch an earth mage in action!"  
As they came into view, a bunch of random mages roared as they ran towards the guild, well armed. "I don't know why they're attacking us, but that gives me reason to fight without question." Takeru days as he rotates his shoulder.  
"Lets do it then, amigos." Luke pridefully spoke as he stood in an ice make stance.  
Upon further scanning, Reve realized that more were coming from the back as well. "Okay split up into two groups! Girls take the back, the boys here. First one to finish is excused from the next workout without being penalized. What are you waiting on? We never give our opponents any ground!"  
"Lets go!" Skye yelled as she, Taya, Kairi and Heather lead the girls to the back of the guild.  
"Luke, aren't you supposed to be headed to the back?" Reve said with a grin as he walked to the front of the male group.  
"Funny." The copy cat muttered with an unamused expression.  
"Alright fellas. It's White Eclipse or second place." The gunslinger recited as he requiped two pistols into his hands. The mages drew near as Reve pointed towards them. "Shoot em down!"

As White Eclipse charged to protect their home against the random mages, a few figures sat on the roof of White Eclipse, watching the fights unfold.  
"Ugh...I don't appreciate being pulled out of bed."  
"You're always sleeping. Suck it up and do this for the guild."  
"He's gotta point."  
"So what, there's five of us and like twenty of them. How are we supposed to succeed in this?"  
"There's actually six of us. /He'll/ be here shortly.  
"Alright. You're the leader, Tristan."  
Tristan's face comes into clearance as he nods. He continues to watch the fight intently. "It's for the guild, so remember, when the time comes, fight like the name of Black Phoenix is on the line."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Three Aces and a Magician

He walked towards the council building, unseen by any guard as he kept his distance away from their vision. Though he wore a hooded cloak, his build was still noticeably huge. A bulky male, with black hair edging out of a green mask. The only thing else that could be seen under his cloak, was his black gloves that covered his hands completely. He continued walking until he came to an abrupt stop at the top of a small hill. Still unseen, he deemed that spot to be as close as he was going to get before he was spotted by the heavily armed building. He sat down as his eyes stayed glued to the council headquarters. "Heh, I know he doesn't remember anything, but how did he become a captain out of all things? Siegrian's work I'm sure. He may be the hardest to retrieve. Oh well, I'll just see how long it takes for him to be alone."

.

Wendy sat outside of the guild on a single well sized stone as Charla stood in front of her. The little sky dragon hummed a soft tune as she say outside, enjoying the nice sunny morning. "What's got you in such good spirits?" Charla asked her dragon slayer. "Huh? I'm always in a good mood Charla?" Wendy replied. "And besides, it's such a great day outside, I don't know how anyone can still be in the guild right now."  
Charla nods, then turns back to the scenery that was the guild's front yard. "I guess you're right, it is a nice day out." Charla smiled seconds later from her admiration of the clear day. As she smiled, she recognized someone walking towards them both. "Is someone expecting a visitor here?"  
"Huh?" Wendy looked up to see, Evanee, the Ace of Twilight Zone walk towards her and the guild. Unsure of what she wanted, Wendy gave her the benefit of the doubt and smiled until she was in a comfortable range to speak to her without yelling. "Hi!" The blue haired child waved. "Welcome to Fairy Tail! Are you...looking..for.." Wendy's words trail off as Evanee walks right past her. "Hey!" Charla raised her voice towards the Ace. "She was talking to you, and you can't just go barging into other guilds!"  
Wendy stood up from her rock, ready to follow Evanee inside, but as she jumped down, a yellow blur zoomed right past her, causing her to stumble backwards. She continued to stumble backwards until she bumped into a man with orange hair and green eyes; an eye patch over his right eye. The man stood with his arms crossed, standing a whopping six feet eight inches tall. Wendy turned to look up at the man. "Sup, shorty?"

.

"Ice make: Freeze Lancer!"  
"Fire make: Tornado!"  
"Gravity God's Bellow!"  
The three separate attacks from Luke, Kuro and Cygnus took out their own respective groups as the boys continued to protect the front of the guild. The number of random mages attacking was abnormally large, slowly causing more fatigue on White Eclipse. Not to mention the morning training they've just been through. Still, the mages continued fighting as Takeru slid under a right hook thrown by a mage. He would then wrap his shadow magic around his own fist and slam a right uppercut into the mage's chin. As the random mage goes soaring into the air and out of concern, five more quickly charge and surround Takeru. The shadow dragon slayer holds his ground with a grin, but before he could make a move, he now shared the spotlight as Waiston slid right by one of the attackers and now stood behind his guild mate. As Waiston raised his right leg, a light blue magic seal appeared under him. He would then stomp his right leg onto the circle, causing a ring of glaciers to appear under the surrounding mages. The glaciers sent the mages flying away from them. Waiston gave another grin to Takeru as the mages fell into the snow. Tak returns it as they run their separate ways to take on more mages. Behind the entire group, Reve stood with two of his celestial pistols in hand, picking off any mages who somehow got loose from the brawl in front of him. He continued shooting, taking out mage after mage as he let the other mages do the heavy lifting in the free for all. As he took out a few more mages, Jack Royal, who was previously passed out at the bar inside the guild, walks out with a sleepy expression on his face. He rubbed his eye as he yawned a bit. "Oi! Reve! Come on man, people are trying to sleep here!"  
"Go back to drinking you blowhard!" Reve yelled back at his long time friend and guild mate. "Some people are trying to train out here!"  
"You're gonna wear em out..." Jack's words trail off as he looks at his surroundings. He notices the brawl going on in the distance and gives a smirk. "Oh it's that kind of training today? I'm gonna watch this."  
He took a seat on the last step connected to the guild as he continued watching the ensuing brawl.  
In the back of the guild, looking out the window was Aira. She placed her right hand on her cheek as she watched the girls dominate the random mages outside. "That looks fun. I've really become complacent after doing nothing but taking after Master Calium over this time. Ugh look at me." She picked up a small mirror beside her and began giving herself a look over. She frowned at her blonde hair sitting in a messy bun and the clothes she had on. "I look like the housekeeper." She sighed. She then returned her view back to the window.  
Outside, the women of White Eclipse have their share of the random mages. "Claymore!" Skye yelled as she unsheathed her sword, slicing and diving her way through the mages. Once she slid to a stop, the mages she ran by fall over in a delayed reaction, face first into the snow. Kairi runs by her, taking on the next swarm of mages. Without using her takeover, she slams a roundhouse kick into the temple of a random male, then leg sweeps another. She stomps on the chest of that mage as she smirks at the rest of the incoming wave. Kairi would then left her palm, creating a mage's circle. From that circle, she would then fire a plethora of air bullets into the mages' chest. They all fall to the ground from the powerful shots as Kairi turns back to Skye with a thumbs up and a smile. A bit ways away from them, Selene stood with a grin as she surrounded herself with mages.  
"She's mine!" A random mage yelled, and his fist turned into stone as he lunged for her. He rears his fist back and then slams it into Selene's head, but the diamond dragon slayer stands there unaffected. She would then give a grin as the man removed his fist in shock, noticing a diamond coating where his fist landed. The man backed away in fear as Selene's grin widened. She would then quickly inhale the air around her, and then fire a Diamond Dragon's Roar, taking out the circle of mages that surrounded her with ease.  
Taya then flew past Selene, riding on one of her dark vectors as ten more followed her lead. The vectors rammed through countless mages as she continued surfing past them, easily taking them out. She continued her trail, until she was forced to come to an abrupt halt. Now in front of her, was a cloud of purple smoke. All that could be heard inside the thick cloud of smoke was the sound of coughing and bodies dropping. Taya shook her head with a small smile as she saw Heather, the poison dragon slayer, walk out with her arms crossed. "Can we wrap this up?" Heather asked in a demanding tone. "I would actually fancy a break from Reve's stupid daily training."  
"Same." Kairi added.  
The girls continued their onslaught upon the intruders, quickly taking them out as the boys did the same.  
"Done!" Both sides yelled out simultaneously. "Well...this is a predicament huh?" Reve stated as the two sides looked towards each other. "Indeed." Taya added in. "It seems we finished at the same time."  
"So what does this mean?" Luke asked as he stood by an uninterested Takeru. "It's a tie!" Kuro yelled. "I know that Kuro. I meant what's the result now that it's a tie?"  
Reve grinned and snapped his fingers once. "You know what, we'll all just have to take the day off. Sound good?" "Thank heavens man." Waiston sighed out. "This training is too crucial. I've been working so hard that I can even tell if I'm improving because everything hurts."  
"Actually..I have a better way to break the tie."  
Reve quickly turns to look up towards the roof of the guild to see who was speaking. There stood Tristan Gareth with his arms crossed and a small grin on his face.  
"Hm? Another mage?" Reve questioned.  
"He must of came from your side." Taya quickly added in. "My girls handled theirs." "We were actually watching the whole time. We didn't participate in that horrible free for all."  
"We?" Reve gave Tristan a confused look...until his precision eyes caught someone beside him. The young male sat up and began reaching for the sky in a stretch and yawn. He had long black hair with matching black eyes. He wore a black cloak also. "Is it time?" The mage asked with a sleepy voice. He scratched his back as he smacked his lips together a few times, trying to wake up. Tristan face-palmed as he shook his head. "Yeah, Hitomi...it's time."  
As Hitomi stood, two more mages now stood behind the White Eclipse ground in the snow. One girl that stood there had brown hair and emerald color eyes. She stood with her left hand on her hip and a cold expression towards her targets. The other male that stood beside her, had white hair that fell a little past his shoulders and yellowish eyes. "Lyra,  
Mathias, where are is-"  
"Right here Tristan, relax." To the left of White Eclipse, stood a male with white-ish hair. He stood a bit under six feet and had purplish-red eyes that were covered by clear glasses. "Ah, Trinity." Tristan grinned as he turned back to Reve and the others. The gunslinger grinned back towards him. "You know there's only five of you right? And there's too many of us. Plus you'll just fall like the other unconscious mages around you."  
Tristan and the other mages began laughing at the gunslinger's comment. "You really comparing Black Phoenix to these wimps that you've beaten? Big mistake." Lyra boasted. "Like I said!" Reve shouted. "There's only five of you wimps, against all of us, even though we're tired you're still no match."  
"Wait! There's six!" A voice shouted as a figure ran towards where everyone stood. Tristan smiled. "Ah yes. Finally? It's L- why are you here!? Where's-"  
The figure now showed to be another female. She had black hair and silver eyes. "/He/ decided to take a different target. What's wrong Tristan? Not happy to see your fellow Ace, Serenity?"  
"Wait... What do you mean fellow Ace?" Taya asked as she folded her arms.  
"Yeah!" Almaz shouted for no reason at all, causing the others to look at him with a sardonic expression.  
Serenity keeps a cold expression as she points to the rooftop. "Up there, is Tristan, Ace of Black Phoenix and Iron Make Mage." She then pointed to herself. "And I'm Serenity, Dark Demon slayer and also an SS class mage of Black Phoenix."  
"DEMON SLAYER!?" The entire guild shouted in shock and awe.  
"Shit! I thought only Daityas and Arc had such magic!" Takeru says as he now takes a defensive stance as the other Black Phoenix Mages surround them. "This just got a lot harder.." Kuro mumbles. "Two aces...and Sidney isn't here."  
"Not to mention Master is sick." Kairi added. "Still, there's way more of us than them!"  
"Kairi's right!" Jaxon exclaimed. "We can take em." "Oh you think so?" Serenity scoffed. "If you really want to go down with a fight, then it's a fight you'll get."

.

"Ughhhh..." The three men that attacked Lucy earlier now laid on the ground, unable to move from the beating they just took from the Salamander himself. Happy and Lucy stood behind Natsu with a smile on their faces. "You alright Lucy?" Natsu asked the celestial mage. She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks again!" Natsu returned the nod with a smile. "You were headed to the guild right? Me and Happy were on the way to get you. Are you ready to go?"  
"Mhm!" She nodded again excitedly as she ran up to the Fire Dragon slayer, now standing beside him. "Lets go!"  
"Aye!" Happy yelled as he hopped up to their waist level with a paw in the air so he could be seen.

As the three started walking off, the figure on the roof watched them. "So that's Natsu Dragneel. Piece of cake." He stood from the shadows. The now revealed man stood about six feet, two inches tall. He had blue eyes and black hair. On top of his head, he wore a top hat, that balance on the front right side of his head. He wore a normal black suit as well. "Well Evanee-Senpai, I hope you and the others are handling the guild, because Rylo Yutaka is about to take out their wild card." As Rylo perched himself at the edge of the roof and ready to jump, he quickly stopped as he noticed someone else walking towards Natsu and Lucy at a decent pace. He couldn't make out his face because the man had on a cloak with the hood covering his head. His black hair was evident though. "What's this?" Rylo decided to hang back as he watched the male carefully.  
Natsu Lucy and Happy now walked the empty street of Magnolia. The pedestrians stood off to the side, away from the mages as if they were real criminals. The three fairy tail members looked around as the civilians cowered from them. "What is with everyone now?" Natsu asked aloud.  
"I don't know." Lucy replied. "It was like this earlier too. They all shied away from me as I was walking through before those guys attacked me." "The guards are missing too." Happy added. "Hey look! There's a guy that's not afraid of us!" Happy pointed to the male in the cloak. He finally made his way to the three and stopped in front of them. "Natsu Dragneel.." The male called out.  
"Hm? That's me." Natsu replied. "Who are you?"  
"Just a man trying to help his guild in need." The cloaked male then reared his arm back and then swung it forward, unleashing a line of green magic towards the three. "Look out!" Natsu yelled as he pushed Lucy out the way and causing her to yelp in the process. Natsu took the blunt of the blow and crashed into the ground away from the celestial mage. "Hey! What was that for!?" Happy shouted. Natsu quickly jumped to his feet, holding his chest. As he removed his hand, he and the others realized that the shirt was being eaten away by what seemed like acid. "What is that?!" Lucy asked in a panic.  
"Acid." Rylo says to himself as he watched from the rooftop.  
"Who are you!?" Natsu says as he winced in pain from the acid against his skin and clothes.  
The male in front of him stood still for a few seconds, and then slowly pulled the hood off of his head. "My name is Leon, Acid Dragon Slayer of Black Phoenix, and I'm here to challenge you...

For your freedom."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: It isn't an option.

"Man!" The large beast takeover mage Elfman roared out. He stood in the middle of the guild flexing yet stretching out his arms and gaining the attention of the other mages around him. "Today has been especially boring! That's not manly at all!" Gray, who unwillingly sat next to Juvia gave Elfman a sardonic look as he turned to him. "Elfman it's not even noon yet." Mirajane nodded her head in agreement. "I'm with Gray on this one, the day just started." "Pipe down! It's too early!" Cana yelled from the bar as she lifted a barrel of booze to her lips, hoisting it backwards to begin downing the contents. "It's too early for drinking." Erza replied as she shook her head at the card mage. She then turned back to Mirajane. "Mira, did master say when he was going to be back?"  
"Hai, tomorrow." The white haired female replied. "It's strange though, I've never known a master to council meeting to take so long."  
"That's the sketchy part." Erza replies. "Siegrain and his new world order attitude still bothers me, to every last detail." "Don't let Natsu hear you talking about that guy." Gray replied. "You know the flame head can't stand him." Erza nodded to Gray's words. She then looked around again. "And where's Levy?"  
Jet and Droy lowered their heads as Jet quietly spoke. "You know where she is."

She stood in front of a grave that was surrounded by others. She gave a small smile as she squeezed the little paw of Pantherlily. "It's been six months, but for some reason, it feels like it just happened. Then, it feels like you're not even gone. I still remember how you saved us all...Gajeel. I miss you, but you're haunting me.." A strong wind blows as Levy and Lily bow their heads over the grave of the Iron Dragon Slayer. "That's really touching." The voice that spoke caused Levy and Lily to perk back up. They looked on, Levy in shock and Lily in anger as they saw a yellow haired male standing on the tombstone of Gajeel Redfox. "What are you doing!? Get down from there!" Pantherlily says, yelling at the male. He grins with his arms folded, yet to move. "Did you hear me!?" The exceed yelled again. As he raised a paw like a fist, a lightning strike barreled down behind them. "Lightning? In a clear sky?" Levy turned around to see a figure form within the lightning bolt. He had white hair that was covered by a top hat similar to Rylo's. His eyes were red and he had a star shaped imprint over his left eye with a scar over it. "Flynn, what's taking so long? The others are inside already?" The man from the lightning bolt spoke.  
"Inside?" Levy's eyes widened. "We're being attacked!?" "I'm on it Taranis relax!" The male now known as Flynn spoke.  
"Lily!" Levy yelled. "On it!" The black exceed exclaimed. He then expanded in size, now standing in his bigger form. "I've seen worse." Taranis spoke. Lily then charged Flynn with his right fist cocked back. He swung, and didn't hit a thing as Flynn disappeared in a blur, appearing right behind the exceed. "A speed mage! Lily!" Levy yelled out for the exceed but as Lily turned around, Flynn slammed a hard right into his gut, causing him to fold over, holding his abdomen. "Solid Script-" Levy raised an arm, ready to attack Flynn with her magic, but before she could, Taranis grabbed her arm at the peak of her draw back. "Let me go!"  
"Can't do that." The male smirked. Then, a surge of lightning begins to shock the petite bluenette, causing her to cry out, until she finally fainted. "Levy!" Lily yelled as he took his attention away from Flynn and began running towards Taranis. As he ran however, he realized that he was barely making any forward progress, as it seemed Taranis was ten times faster even though the lightning user was only walking away. Lily looked down, noticing he was now in the middle of a magic seal. "Slowing magic." Flynn said with a grin. "The closer you are to the middle, the slower you become, and from your position it'll take you a good hour to get free. That's if you don't stop running at all." The yellow haired mage smiled at the exceed once more, and then zoomed out of sight in a yellow blur. "Levy! LEVY!"

"Hm?" Erza lifts her head up as she looks to the back of the guild. "Something wrong, Erza?" Lisanna asked her. "...Just thought I heard...someone screaming."  
"Someone screaming?" Gray gave a puzzled look as he now stood shirtless. "That's weird."  
"Put your clothes back on! That isn't Man at all!" Elfman yelled while pointing at the naked ice maker, Juvia fawning in the back.  
"It's probably just your imagination, Erza." Romeo added in. Just as he finished speaking, the doors to the guild open, and Evanee walks in, keeping a calm pace yet walking towards the Scarlet haired mage. "Hm?" Cana arched a brow in confusion. "Hey, you can't just walk in here like you own the place ya know." Evanee ignores the drunk completely as she continued walking. Cana shrugs and continues drinking, leaving one eye open as she watched the black with green tips haired mage. As she walked, Evanee pulled out a piece of paper that appeared to be a list. She scrolled down the list with her right index finger. "...Can we help you?" Erza asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Evanee stopped scrolling as she came across Erza's name on the paper. It read "Two hundred fifty thousand jewel." She folded the paper and slid it back into her back pocket and smirked as she continued pace. Erza was so caught off guard by such a frontal approach that she never saw it coming. Once Evanee was in melee range, she grabbed Erza by her collar and side, then tossed her across the guild violently, causing her to crash into a wooden table and breaking it into pieces. Everyone stood in shock at the woman's actions. "I don't know who you think you are..." Romeo spoke.  
"But you've just made a big mistake." Max says, finishing the sentence. As they finished, a bright light formed from the crushed table. Erza now stood with an angered expression, standing in her Giants Armor. Without warning, Erza rushed Evanee, and reared back her giant right fist. As she swung, Evanee merely slapped the all powerful punch downward, causing Erza's fist to slam into the floor. The shock factor reentered the room as Evanee slammed a spinning heel kick to Erza's chin, sending Titania into the wall next to the bar. The impact against the wall was so strong that Mirajane flinched from the crash though she stood feet away from it. Elfman then looked out the now hole in the guild, and his eyes widened to find Erza lying on her back, in dire pain. "Erza's down...! What kind of man are you!?"  
She placed her hands on her hip. "My name is Evanee Carlisle, and I'm the Ace of the guild known as Twilight Zone. I feel it's only fair that I give you criminals information about the one whose capturing you."  
"Criminals!?" Gray questioned.  
"Siegrain, I'm sure." Erza says as she forces herself up.  
"Okay, before I was rudely interrupted. I'm a nymph mage. Outside, my takeover mage, Caesar, has your sky dragon slayer in custody."  
"Wendy!"  
"And near your graveyards, my lightning demon slayer Taranis, and my speed mage, Flynn has your solid script mage as well.  
"Did she say Demon Slayer!?"  
"I'm here for the rest of you. Now, before you ask why are you criminals and why are we after you, I'll answer that too. The answer is... I don't answer to criminals."  
"You've made a mistake attacking us!" Gray says as he steps up, sliding into his usual stance as a frosty aura surrounds his fists. "Ice make: freeze lancer!" He fired off his three lances of ice towards Evanee. "Alexander." Evanee spoke. Out of no where, a pale skinned, red eyed mage appeared in front of Evanee. He had black hair with a single extremely light green, almost white stripe on the right side of his hair. He stood between Evanee and the incoming lances and with a wave of both hands in a counterclockwise motion, Gray unwillingly appeared in front of them both. Confused, Fullbuster didn't have the chance to react as his own lances slammed into his back, causing him to yelp in pain as he stumbled towards Alexander. The mage would then end the sequence by slamming a right hook right into Gray's jaw, sending him tumbling away. "Gray-Sama!" Juvia yelled as she watched the ice make mage tumble away. Evanee stood there with her arms crossed as she spoke again. "This is Alexander Khan, our war god mage."  
"I thought that looked familiar..." Erza said as she attempted to stumble back into the guild. "That's the same magic as Minerva.."  
Alexander's eyes snap open. "You haven't seen her have you!?"  
"Alexander!" Evanee said, raising her voice. "Focus!"  
"Yes mam." Alexander then slid back into a fighting position.  
"You'll pay for that!" Juvia yelled as she reared her own arm back. "Water Nebula!" She fires off a giant funnel of her water magic towards them both. "...Melanie." Evanee spoke again, and from the cracks of the floor, a puddle of water appears, shaping into a small, blonde female with green eyes. She turned and threw her hands in the air. "Evanee-Senp-" Before she could finish her sentence, the water nebula slams into her head on. Juvia gave a grin of success as her attack lands. That grin was quickly wiped away as an inhaling sound was heard coming from where Melanie once stood. The water nebula was being swallowed by the blonde. Once she finished, she stood with an innocent smile and clapped a few times. "Time to play already!?"  
"And this is Melanie. She's a spazz, but she's also a dragon slayer. Water dragon slayer to be exact. Now.." Evanee began walking over to Erza, who just made her way back inside the guild, perched on her hands and knees panting from just those two hits from the Ace of Twilight Zone. She bent down and held Erza's head up by her chin. "I'm not usually like this, but I have a job to do. Will you come quietly, Fairy Tail, or do we have to drag you all back to the council stronghold?" Elfman charged in, already in his Weretiger takeover as he swiped towards Evanee. Once again, she merely slapped Elfman's attack away, then extended a kick to his sternum, causing the manly mage to slam against the opposite wall. "Elfman!" Erza called out, realizing that he just took a brutal kick from the same mage that had her in a now compromising position. She then bared her teeth at Evanee. "If I go... Will you leave the others alone?"  
"Erza!" Romeo yelled. He tried to go help her, but his dad Macao grabbed him, and continued to watch.  
"...No. It's all of you. One way or another."  
"Just give it up, she hasn't even used an ounce of magic yet." Alexander spoke, igniting another fear factor within the guild. "As if!" Romeo yelled. He then threw a yellow flame directly towards Evanee. Erza's eyes widen and she quickly covers her nose, as well as the rest of Fairy Tail. "Foolish little kid." Evanee says as she swipes her hand against the yellow flame, causing it to disperse. As she did however, the excess from the flame blew into her nose, and the putrid smell quickly became overbearing. "What is that!?" Evanee yelled as she stood up, holding her nose and thrashing about in a frenzy. "It's so putrid!" The other members of Twilight Zone soon caught whiff, now also holding their nose as the coughed in agony. Erza saw the opening and stood with whatever strength she had left. She then slammed the powerful fist to her giants armor into Evanee's jaw, taking out Alexander in the process. "Everyone!" Erza yelled. "We...We're outmatched here! Retreat and regroup! Wait until we can figure out what's going on!"  
"We don't have a choice! Macao yelled as he grabbed his son, heading for the opening that Erza was pointing to." "This is embarrassing! No man runs from his own guild!" Elfman called out as he struggled to his feet. Before he could speak again, Mirajane grabbed his arm, pointing him to his little sister. "Remember what happened last time.." Mira says. He nods after coming to his senses, then scrambles out with the rest of Fairy Tail.  
By the time the smell wore off, everyone was hightailing it in different directions. Evanee was finally able to rid herself of the smell before she broke the bar in half with her fist in anger. "We're going after them right?" Alexander asked as he too stood up next to Evanee. "Of course, what kind of question is that. They're too valuable."  
"Yay! Another game!" Melanie cheered. As she pranced around excitedly, Caesar walked in the front with Wendy and Charla over his shoulders. Then, Tarranis and Flynn entered from the back, Tarranis holding Levy the same way. "What happened here?" Flynn asked. "Never mind." Evanee retorted. "They've split up I'm sure. We're going after them. Taranis, you and Caesar contact one of the captains and turn those two in. The rest of you...lets hunt for fairies. If you can't handle the group you find, give a signal."  
"Right!" They all yelled in unison. They would then run out of the guild, heading different ways in search for the mages of Fairy Tail.

.

"Just one question before we demolish you and your petty guild for trespassing." Reve says as he now held two celestial pistols within his hands. "Demon slayers... Though they still seem rare, how did you come about?"  
"Rare?" Serenity scoffed. "It's the newest trend it seems." She then side eyed her guild mate Trinity, who gave a smirk. "Wait!" Reve pointed towards Trinity. "You're one too?!"  
"Heh.." Trinity gave a slight chuckle. "I am, care to guess which element?"  
"Who cares!?" Heather yelled. "I'm growing impatient! Lets end these guys right now!" As she yelled, she began inhaling the air around her right after. With a grin, Trinity stepped up and garnered the poison dragon slayer's attention. "Roar..."  
Taya looked over at Trinity, who was unphased by Heather's hostility. Her eyes then widened. "He's a poison demon slayer... Heather wait!" Taya's cry fell on deaf ears. "...Of the Poison Dragon!" She threw her head forward, firing off a funnel of poison magic directly for Trinity. Trinity didn't move. Instead, he allowed the funnel to crash into him. Heather grinned...until another inhaling sound was heard. "Should of listened to your friend." Trinity spoke as he swallowed the poison like water. "I'm a poison demon slayer." Trinity smirked, and then as a magic seal appeared before him, he reared his head back as well. "Poison demons screech..." Trinity fired a bigger funnel of poison right back at Heather. She stood her ground as well. "No problem, no poison is too much for me!"  
"Heather move!" Reve yelled, but she refused as she allowed the poisonous funnel slam into her. "...Gah! I can't...!" The impact of the funnel picked her off her feet, causing her to tumble into the snow, now laying on her back. Her skin was a pale-purple with her eyes now heavy with purple bags under them. "Heather!"  
She coughed profusely as Trinity chuckled a bit. "She's badly poisoned from that. No normal healing or antidote is going to cure a demon's poison either."  
"Why you!" Reve lifted his guns, aiming towards Trinity, but before he could fire, Serenity appeared before him with a hard left uppercut to his stomach, causing him to quickly fold over, now on his knees clenching his stomach as he coughs up a spool of blood. "What...force...!"  
"Reve!" Taya yelled, and immediately took off towards Serenity with her dark vectors around her. "Steel make: Prison!" Tristan saw seen in a certain stance, and as he slammed his hands to the ground, a steel prison formed around Taya instantly. Not even her dark vectors could break through as she slammed them against the bars. "Taya!" Her sister Nami yelled. "We'll get her out later." Takeru comments as he makes himself known. He clinches a fist as his shadow magic begins to radiate from it and the rest of his body. "Right now, we have to kick these guys asses. Losing... It isn't an option!"  
"Too bad it's the only one you have! Secare!" Mathias summoned a well sized sword within his hands and swung it down towards Takeru. Tak quickly used his shadow mode to sink into the ground to avoid the blow. Mathias stood facing the opposite way as Takeru appeared behind him. He then reared back his right arm with his hand flat like a knife, but before he could swing, with great senses Mathias beat Takeru to the strike with a backswing. The swing of his sword sliced Takeru right into the chest, not deep, but enough to inflict a good bit of damage as Takeru went sliding back, clenching his chest. Luke opened his palm, creating a Black God's bomb within his hand. In his other he began creating the White God's bomb as well. "Come on...I should be able to do this faster by now!" Lyra stood across Luke with a cold smirk. "You're taking too long. It's my turn." Lyra then gave a sadistic smirk as she placed two fingers from each hand to her temples. A magic seal appeared under Luke's hands, with two small domes now wrapping around his hands. With nowhere for the black and white God bombs to go, they exploded within Luke's hands. The copy mage went soaring out of the smoke, quickly unconscious as Waiston catches him. "Shit! Luke!" Jaxon bares his teeth, and then turns to the culprit. His body begins to turn blue, as the weather mage harshly drops the already cold temperature of the White Eclipse mountains. Waiston slides in front of Jaxon as he does so, and grinned back at his friend before inhaling the freezing air around him. "Roar! Of the Frozen Dragon!" Due to the amplification caused by Jaxon, Waiston, the Frozen Dragon Slayer, fired off a more than enormous funnel of ice magic towards Lyra.  
"Steel make: Wall." With another stance and palms hitting the ground, Tristan conjured up a simple wall made of steel. That simple wall easily stopped the ice roar dead in it's tracks. "There's no way!" Waiston took a step back with Jaxon as they both stared in shock. As they did, Hitomi yawned as he appeared behind them. He then placed a hand on their shoulders, and shocked them both, causing them to let out agonizing screams until he let go.  
"Outmatched." Serenity spoke. "Your two strongest mages are already out." She pointed to Reve who was still catching his breath, and Taya who was still attempting to make her way out of the steel prison. "That doesn't mean we're out!" Kuro yelled. Serenity gave a small grin as she began cracking her knuckles. "Well then, lets put you /out/ then."  
As minutes went by, Black Phoenix continued dominating the already tired White Eclipse. As the carnage ensued, Almaz, one of the new recruits to the guild, kept watching in fear. "What am I gonna do!?" He thought to himself. "Everyone is getting manhandled! We can't survive this! They'll beat us all, I have to do something." He then shouts. "I have to!" He takes a gulp and then steps forward. "Alright! Time for some Great Tree Arc magic!" A large magic circle appeared around the fight as he yelled out his unimpressive war cry. He then clapped his hands together as the magic seal beneath him and everyone began to glow. "Toraburu no ki!" From the middle of the seal, a large tree quickly sprouted from the ground, and it's branches quickly fired off at all angles, quickly trapping the attacking Black Phoenix mages. He had caught him off guard, but what was impressive was the strength behind Almaz's magic, as he was able to even break the steel prison that held Taya. Serenity, Tristan and the other Phoenixes began to struggle as they tried to squeeze their way out of the trees grasp. "This! Isn't an ordinary tree huh!?" Tristan exclaims as he continues to struggle. Almaz then looks around. He was literally the only White Eclipse member standing, and because of how much magic his techniques costed him, and how he was still a rookie mage, he too was feeling drained. "Okay...um...okay no choice! I have enough for one last thing!" Almaz created another magic seal, and with his Great Tree Arc magic, he created another giant root that began scooping up his fellow guild mates. Once they were all retrieved, he hopped on himself as the root then led to the icy forest just a mile away from the guild. As they entered the forest, the giant root separated into smaller sizes, breaking them off into groups and allowing the guild to split up. Back at the guild, Serenity was throwing a tantrum as she continued pounding the branch tied around her with her fist until she eventually broke free. "Dammit!"  
Tristan was right behind her, and then both aces began letting their comrades down as well. "Lets go after them!" Lyra yelled. "I don't know, that's a lot of work Hitomi says with a lazy slur to his words."  
"Oh we're going after them!" Serenity roared. "No ones getting away!" As they ran off towards the woods, Aira peered through the window, watching them leave. "I know them! But why..? Why is Leon's guild attacking us?"

.

Makarov walked into the council building, escorted by one of the council guards as he made his way to the usual conference room. "Hm..I must be early." The elderly man says as he walks. "Either that or I'm really late." He laughed towards the emotionless guard, who led him down a small corridor. "Well then, tough crowd." He cleared his throat as they made another turn. The guard then opened a door and led the Fairy Tail guild master into a small room. "...This isn't the conference room.."  
"Sir Siegrain would like to have a word with you. Alone." The guard then pointed to the lone chair and walked out.  
"Something's up...and I don't like it." Makarov looked around the small empty room, and then sat down in the chair. Once properly situated, two iron cuffs quickly wrap around his wrists, connected to the chair. "What is this!?" The short old man yelled. He struggled in the chair. "I can't use any magic?"  
"Sure can't." In walks Siegrain. He grins towards Makarov as he sits upon the table in front of him. He crossed his legs as he stared at Dreyar for a good bit. "It's a shame your friend Calium couldn't join us today. He's awfully ill. Can't even get out of bed, so we thought that he's not even worth the effort. But you.. Oh you Makarov. You're doing well." Seigrain then hops up again as he begins to walk around him. "What's the meaning of this, Seigrain!?" Makarov shouted. "What's the meaning of this you ask? It's simple." The Bluenette chuckles to himself a bit before speaking again. "As we speak, your brats are being hunted like the animals they are." Dreyar's eyes widen from his comment. "You see Dreyar, after six long months from the incident, I've changed the world. I've built the council stronghold that now holds all of Fiore's notorious and powerful criminals with no problem. I've built a stronger army. I've causally caused the entire country to bow to me their hero!"  
"You're no hero! And everyone that was there six months ago knows it!" Makarov shouted. He was rewarded for his outburst with a backhand from the council leader himself. "As I was saying. Now that I have all these things at my disposal, I was able to open up a case that laid dormant for half of year."  
"...You threw the blame on us. Even though those mages were the ones who saved this world!"  
"Yes! Yes, you're not senile at all Dreyar! You know exactly where I'm going with this! But don't worry, you're not all that brilliant, because the capture to yours and White Eclipse's mages serve a bigger purpose than just a jail sentence."  
"And what does that mean Siegrain!?" Makarov yelled. The Bluenette merely laughed as he reopened the door. "You'll find out soon enough old man. Until then..I'll send some guards to escort you to your cell."

.

Leon was on the offense, swiping his hands at Natsu in a claw like fashion. With each swipe, a trail of acid magic poured from his hands. Natsu continued to evade the swipes by leaning away from them. He bared his teeth because he knew the consequences of touching his hands. Leon fired another right, but Natsu ducked under it and slammed a right flaming hook of his own into Leon's jaw. Leon stays on his feet but is sent sliding back a few feet from the blow. He wipes his mouth with his hand as he glared at the Salamander. Natsu returned the glare, until he felt his hand singe in pain. He looked at his knuckles, noticing his skin slowly being eaten away by acid. "Shit!"  
"Natsu's in trouble!" Happy yelled. "I have to help him." Lucy commented as she reached for her keys.  
"I wouldn't do that, a voice from above her called out." Her and Happy turned to see who was speaking. "Who are you?" The celestial mage asked.  
Rylo tipped his hat to the female with a grin. "My name is Rylo Yutaka, S class Slight of Hand mage of Twilight Zone, and if I were you, I wouldn't touch those keys of yours."  
And why not?!" The blonde barked back. "Because if you do, I'll have to take care of you."  
"And why should we be afraid of you!?" Happy yelled."  
Rylo then grinned towards the two as he turned back to the fight. "Well I would tell you that, talking cat, but a magician never reveals his secrets."  
"I can't touch this guy without feeling it!" Natsu bares his teeth as he holds his right fist. "There's gotta be away around it." With quick thinking, Natsu then charges Leon once again. As he lunged towards him, he threw a flaming kick towards the Acid Dragon slayer's head. Leon lifted up a forearm to block the blow, wincing a bit from the sheer force of the kick. As Leon slid to the side a few inches from the blow, the acid magic around his arm begins to eat away at Natsu's boot. "Dammit!" Natsu roars in frustration as he hops away from Leon. Leon was in pursuit however, and as soon as Natsu lands from his jump, Leon was there with a palm to his face, slamming Natsu into the ground. The impact breaking off a chunk of the street. "Natsu!" Happy and Lucy yelled in unison, the worry tone in their voices. Leon then leaped away from Natsu who quickly made his way to his feet, palming his face with both hands. The pain could be seen with his thrashing about. "Whoa..." Rylo watches on with an impressed expression. "That was his face."  
Natsu hunched over, still holding his face. "It's only going to get worse Salamander. Just give it up."Leon warned. His eyes widened afterwards as Natsu removed his hands, revealing dragon scales around his eyes and random spots on his face as the smoke from the singeing acid continued to flow from it. Leon quickly regained his composure as Natsu began walking towards him. "For my freedom huh? Well then...I don't care if all of my skin melts away. That's one thing you won't take away!"  
The Fire Dragon slayer began charging towards Leon once again. This time, Leon mirrored him, also charging the Salamander. They both reared their fist back as a swirl of flames wrap around Natsu's right fist, and one of acid around Leon's. "Iron Fist!"  
"Of the Fire Dragon!"  
"Of the Acid Dragon!"  
The two fists collide into a stalemate of a struggle between Acid and Flames. The winds from the impact caused Lucy and Happy to slide backwards as they shielded themselves. Rylo stood unaffected yet still impressed by the fight going on. "It's sad that I'm going to have to break this up soon. Natsu's worth too much money for me to let another guild take him in." The magician continued to watch as it was now becoming evident that Leon's acid magic was slowly overtaking Natsu's fire magic due to it's effects, and after a few more seconds, Natsu's fist dropped as Leon powered through, slamming his fist into Natsu's jaw. The Salamander went flying, and crashed into the ground, rolling a good bit until he came to a sliding stop, now laying on his back and panting. Lucy, who was now just feet away from him, covered her mouth with both hands as she watched on. "Natsu..."  
"Relax." Rylo says, causing Lucy to look over at him in confusion.  
"Sorry, Natsu, but it's time to finish this." Leon bowed slightly. Then, as he came back to a stance,  
He crouched and began creating two orbs of acid magic, one in his left and one in his right. "Acid Dragon's Corroding Beam." Leon combined the two orbs together into one well sized ball of acid magic and launched it towards Natsu. The ball of Acid rushed towards the Dragon Slayer at a fast pace, bringing up a good bit of the ground with it. "Natsu!" Happy cried out as he helplessly watched. As he did, Rylo calmly stepped between the downed Natsu and the incoming attack from Leon. He adjusted his top hat, and then held out his right arm, pulling down the sleeve to his suit. "Nothing up my sleeve." The Slight of Hand mage spoke, causing a magic seal to appear before him. Once the Acid orb hit against the magic seal, it vanished right into it. Rylo then fixed his sleeve once it disappeared. "This was a good act, but I'm taking Natsu with me."  
"Says who?" Leon asked with a raised brow. "Me of course." Rylo replied. "Twilight Zone needs this reward more than wherever you're from."  
While the two mages began their verbal altercation, Lucy quickly raised a key into the air. "Scorpio!"  
As her celestial spirit appeared out of the gate, Happy swooped in and picked Natsu off the ground, now flying high into the air and towards the guild as Lucy ran behind them. "Happy! I'll meet you at the guild!" Lucy yelled as she took a right down an alleyway."Aye sir!" Happy yelled back as he made a max speed bee line for Fairy Tail. "Sand buster!" Scorpio fired off a funnel of sand magic towards the two mages and then quickly disappeared afterwards due to Lucy running away. Rylo and Leon both quickly hopped out of the way as the Sand Buster went flying by, slamming into a random building. As Rylo and Leon land, they look around, noticing that their targets have disappeared. "Shit..." Rylo curls his lip at his failure. Leon on the other hand, begins to sniff the air around him. Once he caught on to Natsu's scent, he took off in a sprint. "Huh!? Oh yeah he's a dragon slayer!" The magician yelled. He then took off right behind Leon, in pursuit of Natsu Dragneel.

.

Aira ran back into Master Calium's quarters. She swung open the door and noticed a coughing guild master slipping on his robe. "Don't even think about it! We'll handle it! You're in no condition!" She yelled, her face with a threatening expression. "I'm not going to let my runts get pushed around like that." Calium replied. "You can barely stand! Any use of magic would just put your life at risk. Lay. Down!"  
The raising of Aira's voice caused Calium to stop all movements. Aira waited with a bit of fear and anxiousness, unsure of how Calium would take the fact that one of his own children just yelled at him in such a tone. He cut his eyes back towards the wind mage... And then slipped the robe back off. "That's fine then, handle it. But I'm calling Sidney as well."  
Aira nodded as the guild insignia on Calium's right bicep began to glow. "How far away he is by now...I don't know. But since my health is seemingly more important than the others, you better make sure everyone is okay Aira."  
"Yes sir.." The blonde haired wind mage slowly nodded, waited for Calium to cover back up in his bed, and then ran to her room to change. After throwing her gloves back on,  
She hopped out of her window and took off towards the forest where she last saw everyone head to. "Hang on guys!"

.

"This is embarrassing!" Pantherlily continued to struggle within the magic seal that slowed his movements. He had finally made it out the middle as twenty minutes went by since the two mages abducted Levy. In a show of frustration, Lily attempted to punch the ground, but even that was slow, and took him a long thirty seconds just to reach the ground with his fist. Tears of frustration began to run down his face. "Levy... I let them take you... Hopefully someone from the guild stopped them. Man, Gajeel would kill me if he was here..." He let out a frustrated yell as he slowly continued to push through the magic seal. "I promised him I would take care of her! Gajeel I'm sorry!"  
"Oi...you're so loud."  
"..." Lily's eyes lit up. He stood as if he's seen a ghost. A long iron pole reached out to Lily, waiting for him to grab it. Pantherlily looked at the iron pole, and then back forward as the tears in his eyes were no longer those of frustration.  
"Gihe! Are you going to stand there, Lily?

Or are you gonna help me rescue the shrimp?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Ultimatum

"Happy! Put me down!" Natsu roared as he flailed about in Happy's paws. "Lucy said meet her at the guild Natsu!" The exceed yelled back. "I don't care what Lucy said! I have to go back and kick that guy's ass! He thinks he's better than me!"  
"Well he was winning.." Happy whispered to himself. "What was that!?" "Nothing! I'll put you down when we get to the guild so someone can tell us what's going on!"  
"Put me down now!"  
"No!"  
"Now!"  
"Natsu!"

.

"Heather... Heather can you hear me?" Kairi continued to shake her friend the Poison Dragon slayer while Selene and Clover stood over them watching. The shaking was only answered by groans of internal pain. "The poison's really wrecking her.." Clover stated. "She needs help and fast."  
"But where?" Selene asked. "We're being hunted like animals. We obviously can't go back go to the guild to get Aira. And even if we did, we don't know if that Trinity guy was bluffing or not about his poison needing a certain antidote. I mean, he is a demon slayer after all."  
"Heather..." Kairi stood back up, carrying Heather piggy back style as the vanilla blonde continued to groan in agony. "Come on, lets keep moving." Kairi commands as Clover and Selene follows her. "I can smell you! That's my poison I smell!" Trinity roared out through the woods. The echo of his voice bounced off the trees and into the ears of the four mages. "Okay lets pick up the pace! We're in no condition to fight!" Kairi leads the pack as she begins sprinting through the snow with Selene and Clover right behind her, running as far as they could from the steady approaching Poison Demon Slayer.

"Nii-San! Are we going to be okay!?" Skye asked Reve, tugging on the back of his shirt. She sat on a sturdy tree branch along with Reve as he laid down, looking through the scope to his celestial sniper. To their left, was Almaz, who was impatiently waiting on the S class mage's call, tapping his fist on the tree branch above him. "Nii-San! Can you answer me?"  
"Skye! Chill! No one's in trouble right now except maybe Heather. And she'll be fine herself." The tone in Reve's voice was obvious to everyone but Skye. Reve turned back around to give another peak into his scope, and after a quick look, he sat back up and turned to the two mages with him. "Alright...the coast seems clear, but to make sure, Almaz check over there." He pointed off to the right. "We're going to wait for you to comeback, so come back."  
Almaz gives an exaggerated salute. "Aye aye sir Reve!" He then leaps from branch to branch, headed off to the right to go scout the area. Reve sighs, and places his back against the tree. As he reopens his eyes, Skye was standing right in front of him, nearly nose to nose. She then smiled goofily towards the now a clearly agitated Reve. "Nii-San! What's gonna be our next move?"  
"...I'll tell you when Almaz gets back, so I won't have to repeat myself." Reve huffed out. "I'll repeat it to him!" Skye exclaimed the replied. "Keep your voice down, and that won't be needed."  
"But I wanna help you Nii-San!"  
"Skye!" Reve yelled. "Shut up! If you want to help so bad...go check over there or something! And stop calling me Nii-San, we aren't related!" Reve's sudden outburst caused Skye to stand in shock. The fact that Reve has never yelled at her before really added to the scolding effect. "..." Skye wiped her watery eyes as Reve kept his eyes to his left, away from the requip mage. Skye then took off to the direction he pointed towards without saying a word, leaving Reve alone on the tree branch they started from. "Tch...annoying."

"Running isn't going to help us for long. We need to take them out one by one." Zalen says as he stands with Kuro Jaxon and Waiston. "That's what Reve would do and we have the right mages to do so."  
"Right!" Jaxon nodded. "Look at us! An ice dragon, a weather god, a building mage and a fire make mage! We can do this!"  
"Lets get started." Zalen whispers as they stayed perched in their tree, waiting for their attackers to show. "As long as we don't get one of the two aces, we'll be okay."  
"Well it looks like you aren't okay." Tristan says as he appears behind Zalen with a grin. Zalen's eyes widen as the other mages turn to them both. "Zalen!" Kuro yells out. He then slams his palms together, readying an attack as Zalen turns to meet Tristan's condescending glare.  
"Fire make:..."  
"Steel make: Hammer!" Beating Kuro to the punch, he created a steel hammer than launched towards Kuro. The red head quickly lunged out the way in a panic, falling out the tree and into the snow. Zalen took this time to quickly create and wrap plates of iron around his fists, but before he could swing, Tristan grabbed the building mage's right hand and twisted it behind his back, now holding Zalen in front of him in a hostage like situation. This stopped Waiston and Jaxon from firing their premeditated attacks. "Shit!"  
Tristan grinned at the mage's disposition. "So, we coming quietly? Or are you willing to risk his well being? You're all outmatched here, so give it up, and we won't have to use force. Besides, one of your friends is dying as we speak."

"Why us!?" Luke shouted. "Why are we being hunted!? I swear to the gods if they try to take us to the council stronghold.."  
"Council stronghold?" Takeru looked over to the panicking Luke Cloud, uninformed of the place he just mentioned. Luke stood up. "Takeru you need to get out more. The council stronghold was built four months ago. Siegrain had it built to hold Fiore's most notorious criminals instead of having them held in the council headquarters. This building's sole purpose is to make sure no one gets out. It's a huge tower of imprisonment, and inside are four wardens! Well, three wardens and a head warden. But still!" Luke begins to shiver a bit. "There's no way out...you're a prisoner there forever! Or...however long your sentence is."  
"Sounds boring." Takeru replied. He continued cautiously walking, until he finally came to a stop to think. He sniffed around as well, searching for a scent. "What are you planning?" The copy cat asked. "An ambush." Takeru retorted.  
Luke blinked. "..an ambush?"  
"We're clearly outmatched because we're all tired from training, and they aren't going to go away. So the only logical thing to do is take them out with ambushes."  
"So what plan do you have?" Luke asked, scratching his head with a confused expression. Takeru didn't answer, instead he pointed Luke to the trees. Luke's eyes widened, and then he nodded, quickly leaping up to the branches above him and landing quietly as Takeru turned to his shadow mode and sunk into the snow. His shadow form traveled to a near by tree and his against the bark of the tree. Footsteps were heard crushing the snow. Luke looked over at the shadow that was Takeru and nodded, waiting for the figure to come into view. The Copy Cat held up three fingers, then two, then one. "Now!" The two mages charged the figure, blindsiding him. Luke pounced on top of the male, slinging him to the ground as Takeru slid in with his claw like fingernails now held to his neck.  
"Oh...Cygnus." Takeru blinked, and then retracted his hand away from the Gravity God Slayer's neck. "...Sorry Cygnus. We thought you were one of them." Luke stated.  
"Well I'm not, so how about get off me Cloud!" Cygnus replied, yelling at Luke who was still pinning the mage to the ground. "Oh! Right, sorry." Luke hopped off and helped the white haired mage off the snowy ground. Cygnus began dusting himself off as he grunted in annoyance. "So no luck in finding anyone huh?" Cygnus asked the two. "Why are you walking so carelessly?" Takeru asked, answering his question with one of his own. Cygnus shrugged but before he could answer, the three mages could hear an echo through the trees. "Darkness Demon's Screech!"  
From behind them, an overwhelmingly large funnel of Dark Demon slaying magic rushed towards the three mages, destroying the trees and all it's surroundings in it's place. "Get down!" Luke yells. The three mages dive out of the way and into the deep snow as the giant funnel roars past them. "What was that!?" Cygnus yelled. "That demon slayer girl I'm sure." Takeru replied as the three mages scrambled to their feet. "Come out cowards!" Serenity yelled. She began trudging through the snow angrily at the fact she couldn't find anyone yet. "I don't have all day and neither do you!"  
"Is she just firing off random attacks?" Luke asked.  
"Who cares, just keep moving!" Cygnus replied to the Copy Cat as they ran through the white covered woods behind White Eclipse.

.

"How did I beat Natsu and Happy here!?" Lucy huffed out as she panted heavily. She placed her hands on her knees as she attempted to catch her breath. She stood in front of the guild doors, waiting on the two for a few seconds. "I'll just go ahead inside and wait for them there. I have to tell the others!" She nodded to her own decision, and then pushed the doors open. "Everyone! Huh..?" She looked around to a near empty guild. The only people she saw, was Wendy and Levy sitting at a table with their heads down and covered by their own arms, as if they were sleeping. "Wendy, Levy! Where is everyone!?" Lucy ran over to them, and she began shaking Levy. She didn't respond. "Levy? Levy wake up! Something's wrong here." As she spoke. She heard laughter coming from behind her. The celestial blonde froze, and then slowly turned to see Taranis and Ceaser standing behind her. Taranis held on hand on his hat as Ceaser stood with his arms crossed, towering over the celestial mage. "You're that Fairy Tail girl Lucy, right shorty?" Ceaser asked, leaning down towards her and causing Lucy to take a step back from his towering. "Who are you guys!? You must be with that Leon guy!"  
Taranis raised a brow to her statement. "I don't know a Leon, but all I know is we're now twenty thousand jewel richer."  
Lucy reached for her keys, but couldn't grab them in time as Taranis quickly leg sweeps her off balance. Lucy hits the ground and winces, now staring in fear at the two mages before her. Ceaser then reaches down towards her, his giant hand about to grab the female, until a right fist from seemingly nowhere slams into the orange haired mage. Lucy watched as Ceaser hit the wall behind him violently, already assuming it was Natsu behind her. She grinned, but then her eyes widened in disbelief to the sound she heard next. "Gihihe." She shook as if she heard a ghost. Taranis also looked on in confusion, though it seemed he remained poised. "Aren't you Gajeel?"  
The Iron Dragon Slayer was perched on the table just above Lucy along with Pantherlily, grinning as he rubbed his fist. "Geez, I can't get any secret training done without you his getting in trouble!"  
"G-ga...Gajeel..." Lucy stuttered out in utter disbelief. Her demeanor quickly turned into an angered one as she pointed at the Black Steel. "Levy is going to be so pissed when she wakes up! You're supposed to be dead!" "I'm not afraid of the shrimp!" Gajeel fired back with shifty eyes. At this point the two mages completely disregarded Taranis standing right in front of them as they argued about Gajeel faking his death. Their argument came to an abrupt halt as the doors were slammed open once again. "Everyone!" Natsu and Happy came sliding in, only to notice the near empty guild. "Lucy, Gajeel! Where is...GAJEEL!?" Natsu began to turn blue, the just seen a ghost affect kicking in to the Salamander as he shakily pointed towards him. "L-L-Lu-Lucy! Do you...do you see him too!?"  
Lucy then pointed at Gajeel while yelling towards Natsu. "He faked his own death!"  
"What!?" The three mages began arguing again. Taranis just stood there dumbfounded, watching the back and forth between the mages. He looked over at Pantherlily, who just shrugged at the matter, used to the everyday antics. As Ceaser made his way from being imprinted against the wall, the lightning demon slayer bared his teeth in frustration and annoyance before yelling. "Enough! Ceaser you ready!? We can take these three!"  
"Yeah...Ceaser rubbed his head, knocking the grogginess out as he made his way back beside Taranis. "Try to stay focused this time Ceaser." Taranis added as lightning began to surge around him. Ceaser turned to Natsu as the four Fairies slid into a fighting stance. Once again, before anything could get underway, the doors swing open again, and walking through the door way with his hands behind his back was one of the council captains, Odin. Behind Odin was Layanna, a council knight. She held her shield and sword firm as continued to trail Odin just inches behind. "Well well, when you called you said you only had Levy McGarden and Wendy Marvell. Both in the fifty thousand range."  
"What..?" Lucy's ducked her head shamefully into a corner. "Am I the cheapest one here?"  
Odin then continued. "But now you have The Salamander, and...the supposed to be deceased Black Steel. I'm sure Seigrain won't mind paying you Natsu's worth twice for Gajeel."  
"What's he talking about?" Gajeel demanded as he snarled towards the captain. "We'll fill you in later." Odin said sarcastically. "Right now, we have this entire guild surrounded with no way out, so will you come quietly? Or do we have to put you in the same state as your friends behind you?"  
"Gihi..." Gajeel grinned at the captains threat. "Maybe this will answer your question. Roar! Of the Iron Dragon!" Gajeel fired off an impressive size roar, hurling it right for Odin. Though impressive in size and power, Layanna quickly stepped in front, and held her shield outward. The roar slammed against her shield, and quickly bounced back to it's owner Gajeel. He quickly ducked, causing the roar to fly into and through the wall behind him violently. "Damn it..." Gajeel sneered. Odin then nonchalantly lifted his right hand, creating two magic seal above both the unconscious Levy and Wendy. In the next second, they were now captured inside two bubbles of oxygen magic. Though made of air, the bubbles were hard as steel. Gajeel couldn't react fast enough as Odin pulled the bubbles towards him and Layanna. "Now, either way your friends are coming with us, and you're going to join them, with or without force it doesn't matter."

"Erza are you sure this is a good idea!?" Max asked as he, Erza, and Cana stood in the middle of the open plains. "Yes. They got the jump on us before, but now, if we separate them, we can easily beat them and get to the bottom of why we're the ones being hunted."  
"Oi..the mage that runs into us is getting a world of hurt!"  
As Cana and Erza stand tall, Max shivers a bit behind them as he begins to chant quietly to himself. "Please don't let it be their ace! Please don't let it be their ace! Please don't! Please!"  
"Someone's coming." Erza stated, causing Max to jump a little. Cana nodded as they waited for the figure to appear. Minutes later, the walking figure appeared to be Evanee, the ace of Twilight Zone. Max grabs his hair as he slouches down. "Of course it's her!"  
"Max!" Cana yelled. "Get ahold of yourself."  
"Besides." Erza added as she grinned. "She's running their show. Once we beat her, we'll get the information we need, and get her other guild mates to fall back." As Erza finished her sentence, Evanee stood in front of the three, her hands on her hips. She gave a condescending look as she examined the three Fairies in front of her. "So.. You three are planning to fight me huh? Just to be clear, I'm not the bad guy here. I'm just doing what I'm being paid to do."  
"Yeah yeah enough of that!" Cana yelled as she pulled out two of her cards, ready to strike. Erza quickly requiped a sword as well as Max shakily stood ready in a stance of his own. Evanee shrugged. "So be it."

The Strauss family continued walking through the open plains. Elfman kept a sharp eye out as he walked behind his two sisters. "Erza's plan better work!" Elfman barked. "Aye..she knows what she's doing." Mirajane nodded. "I'm sure the ace will go after her, leaving us with the others."  
"Lisanna, once we run into someone, stay behind me. A man must protect his sisters."  
"I can take care of myself Elfman..." Lisanna replied. Seconds later, a yellow blur zoomed past them, bringing up a gust of wind behind them as well. The yellow blur stopped on a dime, showing to be Flynn. Holding on to his back and shoulders and now with dizzy eyes, was Melanie. She shook off the dizziness as she hopped down from being carried by Flynn. They stood in front of the Strauss siblings, Flynn grinning while Melanie held an excited yet cheery smile. "Two on three against the takeover siblings!? This isn't a man fight at all!" Elfman roared out as he stepped to Mirajane's right, Lisanna taking her left. Flynn grinned as Melanie took a step forward. "Don't underestimate us just because we aren't Evanee."

As the two mages walked, Gray kept a sharp eye out as Juvia lovingly clung to his arm, rubbing her face against his arm in a creepy form of infatuation. He ignored it as they continued to slowly trek forward. A few steps later, he stopped , causing Juvia to stop as well. She immediately let go of the ice maker's arm as she readied herself as they now both spotted a portal spinning in front of them. Out of the portal came Alexander. He looked the two mages over before speaking. "I'm sure you know the drill here."  
Gray scowled towards the Twilight Zone guild member. "If you think you can beat one of us, let alone both..."  
A small grin appeared upon the mage's face. "Only one way to find out right? But before I apprehend you both. Tell me what you know about Minerva."  
Gray raised a brow to Alexander's request. "Minerva? We haven't seen her in like two years man. Why do you want to know?"  
"Never mind that." Alexander huffed as he slid into a fighting stance. "Just prepare to defend yourself."

.

Through the council hallways, a man with blue hair walked towards the main office where Siegrain awaited. His hair was just long enough to wear he was able to put it up into a small ponytail. He was dressed in a matching grey uniform that held the magic council insignia. His brown eyes helped him hold a confident demeanor. Behind him, were three figures that could yet be fully seen. In his left hand he held his matching hat. The four bodies finally reached the main office as the blue haired man turned the knob and opened the door. "Siegrain."  
"Rizu, still as rude as ever." Siegrain grinned as the four walked in, the three unknown figures standing the man now identified as Rizu. "You called us here." Rizu replied. "So we came to the point where you called us from." Siegrain chuckles a bit as he sits up in his chair. He then folds his arms over his desk as he looks at all four of them. "Head Warden of the council stronghold, Rizu Shizen. As you are aware, you have a couple of prisoners that will be heading your way eventually. I want you to set up the chair that my men have been working on."  
Rizu arches a brow, yet grins. "The chair huh? I thought it wasn't completed? No matter, as you wish, Siegrain." Rizu bowed, and then spoke again as the four wardens began leaving. "We'll be waiting for the arrival of our guests, try not to keep us waiting."  
As they left, Siegrain scowled a bit. "He's lucky he's talented." The Bluenette then turned in his chair a bit, staring at the open window with a grin. "All is going according to plan. They'll learn to respect me, and at the same time, I can get rid of a certain criminal thorn in my side. It's bad enough that Fairy Tail and White Eclipse pose the threats they do, but once I get rid of these fools that also plague me, and gain the fear of the Eclipses and the Fairies, I'll finally be invincible."

.

"You're wasting your time running!" Trinity yelled. "I'm following your footprints! You're just delaying the inevitable!"  
Kairi Selene and Clover continued to sprint through the snow in an attempt to escape from the pursuing demon slayer; Kairi still carrying Heather on her back. Panting heavily, yet refusing to stop, the three mages continue there escape attempt until Trinity called out again. "Look! Your friend is going to die if you don't hand her over. She's heavily poisoned and everyone here, including you, needs her alive." They immediately stop in their tracks. "What are we gonna do?" Clover asked. "I'm pretty sure he's not bluffing."  
Kairi continued to pant, trying to think of an idea. Finally, something clicks. "I got an idea. Clover...can you hold him off?"  
"What!? Why me?" Clover looked back towards the angel takeover with a shocked expression. "Just trust us!" Kairi yelled as she carried Heather off along with Selene. Clover turned back to the incoming Trinity who was steadily catching up. "I'm too exhausted to fight a demon slayer... But..." Clover slid into his maker stance as the element make mage readied for the incoming demon slayer. "All I have to do, is stay away from his poison..." By the time he finished his thoughts, Trinity appeared. He slowed down to a stalk as he walked towards Clover and finally stopping a few feet before him. Trinity gave a small grin to the defensive mage. "What? You're gonna hold me off while they escape?"  
"Looks like it..." Clover mumbled.  
"Don't you understand, there's no way around this. Just come quietly." Trinity replied, his hair beginning to waver, knowing that Clover wasn't going to just surrender. "I'll even give you an ultimatum. Just give me the poisoned one so I can heal her, and I'll let the rest of you go. Heather is worth a good bit."  
"Kairi, what's your idea?" Selene asked. Kairi didn't answer. Instead, she finally came to a stop after she was sure she could no longer see nor hear Clover and Trinity. She then walked over to a tree. "Selene, can you make something for Heather to sit on so she doesn't freeze in the snow?" "Hm?" Selene nodded, and with her diamond magic, she created a chair that Kairi now placed Heather in. She patted the poison dragon slayer on the head once. "Hang on, we'll get him to fix you Heather." She then turned to Selene. "Alright lets go. We're going to ambush him. We don't have time for a fair fight, we need him to fix Heather." Selene nodded to Kairi's words, and then followed the white and light purple haired mage around the trees, planning to sneak up on Trinity while he was busy with Clover.

"He didn't have to yell.. I was just tying to help..." She sunk her feet into the snow, trudging around with little effort. Skye sighed heavily as she wiped her eyes once more, clearing the tears from her face. "He didn't mean what he said..but it still hurt." She continued on, walking through the snow. Just above her, laying in a branch with his hands above his head, was Hitomi. Though he was sound asleep, he woke up to the sound of Skye's voice. After a long yawn and the ruffling to the back of his head, he peered over the side of the branch he was laying on, noticing the former assassin walking alone in the snow. "Oh..it's one of the targets. Man, I was really enjoying that nap too." He continued to watch her unknowingly walk past him. "Oh right...I should capture her. Orr...no need, she's headed in the right direction." Hitomi smirked as Skye continued to walk on. Skye stopped walking after a couple more feet. "No one here. I guess I can go back and tell the jerk." She huffed again and turned around.

Only to see Mathias standing right behind her.

He grabbed her before she could move a muscle.

Black Phoenix now had their first capture.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Countered! Siegrain's Big Announcement.

"Any last words?" The Twilight Zone mages rung out simultaneously as they stood across from their respective targets.  
"Only a few!" Gray yelled as he slammed a fist into his open palm, creating an icy aura around his hands. "Ice make: Hammer!" He threw his arms forward, and through an icy blue magic seal, a giant hammer made of ice appeared. The ice hammer flung towards a readied Alexander. The mage ran towards the incoming hammer, only to dodge it by quickly ducking underneath without losing any momentum. "Water Slicer!" Juvia stepped up, and from her magic seal, fired off three blades made of water. Once again, without losing momentum, Alexander ran ahead, swiftly moving side to side to dodge them all. Juvia raised her hand to fire off another, but before she could, Alexander slid right under her. "Ih Ralgas!" As he spoke this quick incantation, Alexander's hands become wrapped with his war god magic. He then quickly slams an open palm into Juvia's ribs on her left, sending her tumbling off to the right as she let out a painful yelp. She finally came to a rolling stop and struggled to her feet, yet still standing just fine. With his hands still wrapped in his war god magic, he then turned to an incoming Gray Fullbuster. "Ice make: Bringer!" The ice make mage creates a giant well sized sword within his hands, and swings down a vertical strike at the War god mage's head. With a smirk, Alexander times it just right, and slams his hands together, catching the ice sword within his hands. The struggle between the two continues before finally, seconds later, Alexander snaps the ice bringer in half. Gray was wide eyed with shock, quickly replaced with a look of pain as Alexander slammed an open palm into his chin with an uppercut. The ice maker falls to the ground spine first, quickly rolling up to a knee as he glared at the War god mage. Now standing in between Gray and Juvia, Alexander gave another grin. "Ih Ragdo." He whispers. He then begins to go through a formation with his hands, and once it ended, Gray found himself in some type of bubble. "Heh.." Alexander then clenched his fist, causing an explosion inside the bubble. Gray let out an agonizing yell. "Gray-Sama!" Juvia yelled out in the utmost concern. "Surrender, and I won't do it again." Alexander stated, still holding Gray within the bubble. "J-Juvia! You can take him! We can't surrender, so just beat-"  
Before he could finish his sentence, Alexander let off another explosion inside the bubble, causing Gray to cry out once more. "Stop it!" Juvia yelled out as she angrily turned to the war god. Alexander's grin quickly disappeared as he looked into the now red eyes of the angry Juvia. It reappeared however, and a chuckle escaped his lips as well. "Do you fight better when you're upset? If so, then lets see it."

"Beast soul: Weretiger!" Elfman charged right for Flynn in his fastest form, his body now in it's Weretiger takeover. He ran towards Flynn and threw a quick right claw, which missed everything. In a blink of an eye, Flynn was gone. "Yo!" Elfman turned to his right to see the speed mage standing there with his arms folded and a cocky smirk etched upon his face. Annoyance already settling in, Elfman went on the attack, throwing multiple strikes that continuously missed due to Flynn's immense speed. "You're too slo-" before he could finish his sentence, a hand calmly grabbed him by the shoulder. Ironically, he slowly turned around to see Mirajane standing in her Demon Halphas form. With his speed magic, Flynn quickly backs up, only to have Mirajane appear right behind him. "What the!?" Flynn backs away once again, only to have the same thing happen. "No one's this fast!" Flynn yelled as he tried once more. This time, as Mirajane appeared before him, he through a high kick that the Demon Halphas easily blocked with her right forearm. She then caught his leg, and threw the yellow haired mage to the side, watching as he went sliding into the ground until he finally came to a stop.  
Melanie and Lisanna stared each other down. Melanie was still smiling as Lisanna dawned a serious demeanor. Finally, Lisanna charged the water dragon slayer, using her animal soul magic to take on a cat like appearance. She began swinging her claws in rapid succession. Melanie began evading the assault, finally gaining space by leaping off to the side. As she landed, she began inhaling the air around her. "Roar! Of the Water Dragon!" She threw her head forward, firing off her patented dragon's roar. Lisanna was off guard at first, but then quickly leaped out the way, leaving Elfman it in the targets sight. "Elf-nii!"  
"Huh?" Elfman turned right into the funnel of water dragon magic, leaving his feet as the funnel slammed him into the ground after traveling a couple of yards more. "Ugh.." He rubbed his head as he made his way to his feet. "Yay! I thought I missed!" Melanie yelled as she clapped to herself. By this time, Flynn made his way back to his feet, only to have Mirajane right in front of him. She grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off his feet, now holding her sharp nails inches away from his face. "Ready to talk?" Mirajane asked the speed of twilight zone. Flynn laughed. "Not yet." He then snapped his fingers, creating a yellow magic seal under them both. As Mirajane reared her arm back to deliver the strike, her entire body began to slow down dramatically. She would eventually give a look of confusion, due to the speed change her facial features took a while to show it. Unaffected by his own magic, Flynn quickly slipped out of the demon takeover's grasp and landed on the ground. He then threw a hard kick to her abdomen. Mirajane went stumbling, but Flynn caught her before she left the circle, only to throw another kick, sending her the opposite way.  
"Mira-nee!" Lisanna took her eyes off Melanie, who now slid beside her, and threw a water magic infused knee to Lisanna's abdomen, causing her to fold over. "Get off of my sister!" Elfman roared, and with the speed of his Weretiger takeover, he appeared right in front of Melanie with his fist reared back. Melanie stood in complete shock, completely off guard. Before Elfman's punch could connect, a cloud of dark smoke appeared between them both. His fist stopped short, and once the smoke disappeared, the Slight of Hand Mage was shown, with Elfman's fist within his palm. "Rylo!" Melanie yelled with joy. "But...I thought you were after Natsu?"  
Rylo grinned. "Don't worry Melanie, Natsu isn't going anywhere right now." Elfman sneered from the fact his punch was easily halted. "There's another one?" His comment caused Rylo to smirk. "I don't appreciate you three outnumbering my guild mates. So lets even the odds, Melanie stay on the girl." Rylo then quickly let go of Elfman's hand as he slammed his own to the ground, following with a hard back kick to his chin. Elfman once again is taken off his feet, except he recovers in mid flip, now wiping his chin from the blow he just took. Elfman stared the Slight of Hand Mage down. As he did, he began another takeover, turning into his Beast Soul. "It doesn't matter about the numbers. Against Fairy Tail, the odds are always against you."  
Rylo smirked once again, now giving Elfman the "bring it" notion with his hands. "Then by all means, show me your performance."

.

"Last chance, Natsu Dragneel, Gajeel Redfox...and Lucy Heartfilia."  
"Why did you say my name like that!?" Lucy yelled in question, embarrassed by the nonchalant tone her name was called in. Odin then continued. "Either surrender, or be taken by force. We have the upper hand."  
"Good!" Natsu exclaimed as he punched his fists together, igniting flames within them both. "It's always more fun when we have a disadvantage!" "You heard him!" Gajeel added as he and Pantherlily hopped down from the table, now standing next to Lucy. "Looks like we aren't leaving without a fight. A fight you're going to regret."  
"Oh..I'm not lifting a finger." Odin replied, causing looks of confusion upon the faces of the Fairy Tail mages. Odin then pointed to Ceaser and Taranis. "This is their job. Not mine. But I will hand them some other assistance." Odin grinned as he began walking out, the bubbles that were Levy and Wendy floating behind him. He then snapped his fingers, and bursting through the walls of the guild were countless numbers of council guards. Odin walked through one of the holes in the walls, leaving with the two females. "Levy, Wendy! No you don't!" Natsu ran after Odin, only to be cut off by Taranis, who slammed a lightning infused uppercut into Natsu's chin. He quickly grabbed The Salamander by his foot and slung him back to the ground. Gajeel interrupted his next attack by firing an iron pole towards Taranis's head.  
The lightning demon slayer dodged it by leaping away. Ceaser then ran towards Gajeel, and swung a hard right haymaker. Gajeel met him halfway with a punch of his own, the two fists colliding for a minor shockwave. "So what are you anyways? I don't see you using any magic.." Gajeel asked the orange haired mage in front of him."  
"Oh..right...magic. I almost forgot." Ceaser's comment caused Gajeel to blink in confusion. That quickly went away as Ceaser's hair began to waver. A magic seal appeared under his feet, breaking apart the guild floor in the process of the magic aura rising. "Pharaoh takeover: Horus." Ceaser then sprouts giant, falcon like wings from his back. He now stood bare chested, with a band wrapped tightly around his biceps and two golden colored gauntlets that start at his hand and runs up to his forearm. He now had a long cloth wrapped around his lower body with an Egyptian style belt around his waist. His feet now dawned sandals which wrapped around up to his ankles. "A take over mage huh?" Gajeel gave an unimpressed look at Ceaser who now stood in his takeover. He then reared another fist back. "Not impressed!" He then slammed the fist into Ceaser's chest. Though the Takeover mage winced, he was barely phased nor did he move. His wincing turned into a grin as a golden light began to cover over him like a silhouette. "One of my takeover's effects." Ceaser gloats. "My defense is near impenetrable. Also.." He threw his hand to the side, putting it through a magic circle that just appeared. Once he brought his hand back, it now carried a sword just a tall as the giant mage himself. Without warning, he swung it downward. Gajeel quickly leaped out of the way, causing the impact of the blade to nearly completely destroy the entire floor, causing random spots to either elevate or break off into the basement due to it's strength. "What was that!?" Gajeel exclaimed to himself as he stood on an elevated piece of what was remaining on the floor of Fairy Tail.  
As some of the guards fell through the floor, the majority was able to make their way to the elevated spots, along with the mages and exceeds. Lucy stood with Pantherlily, basically on an island surrounded by council guards. Lucy quickly pulled out a key as Lily grabbed his sword. "Taurus!" Quickly, out of his gate, the celestial bull Taurus appeared and swung his axe down, the impact causing guards to scatter. Lily swung his sword horizontally, keeping the guards away as long as he could. "There's too many!" She yelled as Taurus stood in front of her. "Gajeel!" Pantherlily yelled to gain his partner's attention. "We have no business here! We have to go after Levy and Wendy!"  
Gajeel leaped away, back against the wall as he nodded. "Right! Shit!" He ducked as Ceaser swung a horizontal strike with his sword, causing the wall of Fairy Tail to break apart violently. "Don't let them escape!" A random guard yelled.  
"Don't worry." Taranis smirked as he held a barely conscious Natsu by the wrist. "Dragneel isn't going anywhere."  
"Max speed!" From behind, Happy head butted Taranis right in the skull, causing him to drop Natsu. Happy then quickly flew around and caught Natsu before he plummeted into the basement, then took off through a second floor window. Gajeel rolled away from Ceaser and leaped into the air, allowing Lily to latch on to his back and follow Happy out the window.  
"...HEY! YOU FORGOT ABOUT ME!" Lucy yelled as she flailed viciously. "Happy!"  
"Oh no! I forgot! Happy cried out. "Quick, turn around! Natsu yelled back."  
Lucy found herself surrounded, the guards stepping closer and closer. Before she could be grabbed, she was suddenly lifted into the air.  
"Huh..? Charla!" Lucy looked up to see the white exceed Charla carrying her. "Happy's right...you are heavy."  
"NOT NOW!"  
"Did anyone see where they took Levy and Wendy!?" Gajeel asked. "I'm sure they're headed to the council headquarters!" Lucy yelled back. "Then lets go!" Natsu shouted, Happy quickly taking off. "Shouldn't we get the others!?"  
Gajeel looked back at the blonde haired mage as they all took off. "They'll be fine. Levy and Wendy aren't."

.

Siegrain walked out of the council headquarters, escorted by all of the captains, except for Odin and Lahar. Also with them were Ultear and Doranbolt, and a number of council guards. "Right this way sir." A council guard spoke, leading the council leader himself to an awaiting chariot. One by one they filed in, Siegrain first, and sat inside the covered carriage. The guards filed in, sitting in their own assigned wagons as Siegrain's took off first. There were ten wagons in all. All of them were filled with at least ten soldiers. He sat there with a content smile on his face as he crossed his leg over the other. "So whatcha thinking Senpai?" Correll asked the magic council leader. He waited a few seconds before answering. "Thinking about the new world we're going to create is all, Correll." Correll then grew a smirk as he laid his head back against the head rest of his seat. "Yeah, this is an amazing plan of yours."  
"But don't you think you're rushing it?" Ultear asked. "These things take time, and the lacrima chair isn't ready yet."  
"You don't have to worry about that Ultear." Siegrain added. "The only thing that it does is kill the person strapped to it. We'll fix that later on. For now, I'm going to use it to make an example out of someone." "Finally!" Correll yelled in response. "That's my kind of justice!"  
"Tch. Blind kid.." Doranbolt mumbled to himself."  
"I for one agree with all of this." The new first captain spoke, his face still covered now by the shade from the cover of the carriage. "No matter how docile they seem, they won't have true respect nor fear of the council until we take out one of theirs." Ultear listened to the first captain's words, and then grinned. "That's funny coming from you."  
"What's that mean?" The unknown captain asked. Siegrain quickly darted his eyes to the teasing Ultear. She gave a nonchalant shrug. "Oh nothing. You wouldn't understand if I told you anyways, 'Riley,' first captain of the council headquarters."  
"I don't like your tone." The man now revealed as Riley replied, the tension within the wagon becoming thick until Siegrain clapped his hands to mentally separate the two. "Enough of that. Now, once we get to the stronghold, I want a 'volunteer' from either guild in the chair. Throw the others in a cell. Sound good."  
"Yes sir." A statement of unison called out from the party within the carriage. The council leader went back to his inner thoughts as he waited patiently for the ride to end. "What I have planned will change the world for the better. Not only that, I can finally get /them/ out of my hair. Note to self, criminals are not people to make deals with. They're just as bad as demons."

.

"It sure is taking Skye a long time to come back.." Almaz noted as he stood next to a sitting yet unconcerned Reve, still hidden in the branches. "She's fine. She used to be an assassin. Not getting caught is her thing." Reve added. He stayed where he was seated, his left foot dangling from the branch as he waited patiently for Skye to return.

Mathias walked, now with Skye blade on his back, carrying the sword requip mage over his shoulders. The unconscious female hung there as Mathias grinned at the figure he was walking towards. A few steps later, and Lahar could be seen with a wave of council soldiers behind him. Mathias happily handed Skye over to Lahar, who gave her to one of the soldiers. The council guard then carried her to a carriage, placing her in magic sealing cuffs and tossing her into the back. "Nice work Mathias, to you and your guild. It seems that White Eclipse is now separated inside that forest huh? Well your guild will be rewarded for every capture we come up with."  
Mathias nodded. "It wasn't a problem. We aren't big fans of this, but like Tristan said, it benefits our guild. Money is tight these days for us mages."  
Lahar nodded once more before turning to his platoon. "Alright men! Spread out and apprehend every White Eclipse mage you can find! Let no one escape!" And on Lahar's command, the soldiers ran past him and Mathias as they entered the snowy forest.

Luke Takeru and Cygnus continued sprinting through the forest to run from Serenity who was hot on their trail. "Let me fight her!" Takeru barked as he was being comically pulled away by both Cygnus and Luke. Finally, the three mages came to a stop, Cygnus and Luke panting as they hid behind a line of trees. "I can take her!" Tak yelled once more. Cygnus then covered his mouth to keep him from yelling. "No you can't, don't be stupid!"  
"That ship has sailed." Luke added. Takeru glared at the Copy Cat, but as he did so, he could hear the battle cries of a swarm of people heading their way. It wasn't long until Cygnus and Luke heard it as well. "...It's the council!" Luke yelled. "Quick! To the right!" Cygnus says as he grabbed the rebellious shadow dragon slayer Takeru. "We're running out of room!" Tak yelled. "We're gonna have to fight sooner or later!" "Well until that time comes, keep running until we can find the others!" Luke replied back.

Zalen was face down into the snow with Tristan's knee in his back to subdue him. He now had steel braces around his wrist, constricting him. Jaxon, Waiston and Kuro surrounded the ace, but dared not to make a move, unsure of what the steel maker would do to their guild mate. "Don't just stand there!" Zalen yelled through the snow. "Take him out!" Jaxon took a step forward, and as he did, Tristan reacted by setting his hands into position, ready to manipulate steel once again. Kuro and Waiston slowly moved in a circle around Tristan, looking for an opening. Kuro also held his hands in his fire make position as he stalked around him. "There's no way around this." Tristan commented, keeping his eyes on all three of the mages. "Just surrender. In fact..." Just like Luke, Tak and Cygnus, the mages could now hear the arrival of the council guards drawing near. "Is that?" Jaxon looked around him as he tried to pinpoint the sounds. "Yup, that's the council alright. All of this is useless. Just surrender now, or be taken down sooner or later."  
Jaxon stared at the downed Zalen, who managed to look back at Jaxon. Zalen then nodded. Jaxon hesitated, but then, he created a magic seal below him, Waiston and Kuro. In the next second, three clouds were formed, and took the mages into the sky. "Zalen!" Kuro called out, hopelessly reaching for his guild mate. Tristan watched, stunned that he let such a thing happen. "Get back here!"  
"We have to go back!" Kuro yelled. "We can't leave Zalen!"  
"Zalen will be okay, it's no use if we all get captured.." Waiston replied. "I saw the look he gave Jaxon. They came to terms..lets just find Reve quickly!"  
"I said get back here! Steel make:-" Tristan stood up off of the building mage, and before he could complete his spell, Zalen trips him up, causing Tristan to fall into the snow. Zalen quickly hops up and begins running away, only to run into a hard kick to the sternum. The council guards now surrounded him, cuffing him quickly. Tristan rose to his feet, dusting the snow off as he looked to the sky. "That still counts as my capture!" Tristan yelled as he took off behind the three traveling clouds.

"Time to shine! Wind make: lancers!" Clover stood into his maker stance, and threw his arms forward, from his clear magic circle, a bunch of near invisible lances fired towards Trinity. The demon slayer grinned, and leaped into the branches, causing the lances to miss completely. Trinity then dive bombed right for Clover, his right hand swirling with his poison demon magic. The elemental make mage dove out of the way, rolling in the snow as Trinity's incoming attack. The impact from the demon slayer's attack breaks apart a small radius of the ground around him. "Tch." Clover turned to to go on the offensive, but Trinity quickly covered ground, now swinging his poisonous hands towards him. Just barely evading, now with desperation, clover quickly lunges out of the way, turning and setting up for another technique. "Water make:-"  
"Bullets of the poison demon." Before Clover could attack, Trinity beats him to it but extending his index finger, now firing off a plethora of bullet shaped poison demon magic towards the mage before him. Clover's eyes widen, and he quickly changed his mind from offense to defense. "Dome!" Quickly, a wall made from water magic surrounded Clover, just strong enough to protect him from the poison bullets. Once the bullets stopped, Clover released the dome, only to lose track of Trinity. He looked around cautiously. Above him, Trinity roared out as he plunged towards the mage, tackling him to the ground and leaving him face first into he snow. He then held a palm right beside his face. "Squirm and I'll give my poison a first class trip into your lungs."  
Clover winced and then snarled at the mage on top of him. "I hope Kairi's plan includes saving me.." He thought to himself as Trinity begins to laugh. As he did, footsteps began to become louder within the snow. Clover shifted his eyes upward to see a few council guards now over him. It was the last thing he saw as one of the guards slammed his weapon over the elemental make mage's head, causing him to black out.

"Why are we running back!?" Selene asked Kairi as she panted. "Did you not hear them!?" Kairi replied. "You're the one with dragon senses here. The council guards are around. We have to get back to Heather before she is...taken." Kairi and Selene stop their running, noticing the empty chair that they both left Heather in. "Heather...!" Selene and Kairi both cried out as they looked around frantically. Footprints were heading in every which direction. "Those idiots! She's gonna die if that poison stays in her!"  
"Kairi take that way! I'll go left!" The two mages quickly split, running in opposite directions in search for Heather.  
Back at the outskirts of the forest, Heather was seen with sealing cuffs on her wrists, and being thrown into one of the carriages. "She's been poisoned by Trinity." One of the guards commented. "Being over the antidote he gave Lahar." The guard he was talking to saluted. "Right!" He ran off, and seconds later he came back with a miniature bottle. "Hold her head steady." The first guard commanded, and the other did just that, keeping her mouth open as he placed a few drop in the dragon slayers mouth, then tilting her head back. "Did it work?"  
"He said it'll take a few minutes to take effect. Until then, take her to the stronghold with the other two."  
He saluted again. "Right!" The carriage then took off with three of White Eclipse's mages inside.

.

The three mages stood off against the seemingly uninterested ace of Twilight Zone. None of them made a move besides Erza requiping into her Black Wing armor. Evanee stood there in front of them with her arms folded. She slowly cocked a brow upwards at the lack of action between the three. "Trust me." The ace spoke. "You don't want me to go first."  
Surprisingly, Max was the first to attack. "Sand rebellion!" He leaped towards Evanee, and fired off a blast of sand magic towards her. Evanee simply lifted her right palm, and the attack slammed into her hand, leaving the ace unharmed as the sand attack slowly began to disperse. As she did that, Erza came sliding to Evanee's right, and flew towards her. She swung her sword towards the mage, yet Evanee dodged it by simply leaning away from the sword. She then shoved a kick into the scarlet haired female's abdomen, following it with a hard side kick to her ribs to send her away. As the sand rebellion died, Cana leaped upward, and flung a car under the foot of Evanee, quickly creating a whirlpool of water that seemingly consumed her. The whirlpool spun for a few seconds, until Evanee leaped out of it's eye and away from it, soaked. With a scowl on her face, she glared at the now shocked card mage as she rung her hair free from the water. As she glared towards Cana, Max attempted to ambush her from behind with a giant wave of sand, looking to crush the ace. Evanee grins, and without turning around she holds her arms up to the sky. "Darkness wave." Within the next second, a tidal wave of dark magic meets Max and his wave of sand head on, overpowering the sand wave in less than a second as the darkness wave consumes the mage, spitting him out as it crashes into the ground and disperses. Just like that, Max was unconscious. "Shit, Max!" Cana yelled for her guild mate, but as she did, Evanee appeared beside her. Cana's forearm began to glow, but Evanee quickly grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back. She then swept Cana off her feet and throw her to the ground with force. Cana landed head first into the ground, leaving a small crater for her unconscious body to rest in. Erza looked on in disbelief as Evanee stood up, and turned to the scarlet haired. "Hmph..." She gave a small grin as she pointed to Erza. "No more distractions. Lets see what the big deal is, Titania."  
"Oi! What are you doing to my fellow babies!"  
Evanee quickly turned around to see Bickslow, Freed and Evergreen floating downward, hovering over Max and Cana. Before she could asses her new situation, a stream of lightning came barreling down right beside Erza. "It never changes around here. I always have to save your scrawny asses."  
"Laxus!" Erza stood in a bit of surprise as Laxus Dreyar now stood beside her, his arms folded over his chest.  
"I can't leave the guild to train without you guys getting into trouble." Laxus then turned to the nymph mage in front of him, lightning surging around his body. "And this is the problem?"  
Evanee cocked another brow. "What do you mean, this?"  
"Well she did knock Max and Cana out cold?" Bickslow added. "Out cold! Out cold!"  
"Hmph...that's no difficult task." Freed says, chiming in.  
"Let me just turn her to stone and get it over with." Evergreen demanded. "Never mind that." Laxus interrupted. "Go make sure the other idiots are okay. Me and Erza will handle this so called 'ace.'" The grin on Evanee's face not only reappeared, but grew exponentially. "You lack respect for your superiors. Let me readjust your attitude."

.

"We're ready when you are sir."  
"Then turn the lacrima screens on. Are any of the captured here yet?"  
"Three have arrived. Odin is just now arriving with his."  
"Good, bring me a random one to place in the chair this instant."  
Siegrain, after his short conversation with a council guard, was shown standing on the top of a tower, that stood on an island. The island was surrounded by guards and weapons. Just off in the distance, Fiore could be seen. As he stood near the ledge of the tower a giant lacrima screen appeared before him. The same screen appeared around the cities of Fiore, and even a few random places within the country. Most importantly, where Fairy Tail and White Eclipse could see, stopping all action. "Ladies and gentlemen! It is I, your hero! Siegrain! Now, as you all know, about almost a day ago, we've reopened the case of Zeref and the apocalypse culprits from six months ago, all coming to the conclusion that Fairy Tail and White Eclipse were the ones to blame for your near destruction. Well today, I bring you the start of justice!" As he took a step to the right, he bowed as two guards carried Skye into the lone chair that stood on the tower's roof. Now strapped in, the sword requip mage sat there, still unconscious. "This, my loyal followers, is a lacrima extracting chair! Yes his chair, that's hooked up to this machine behind it, has the ability to pull and clone the magic from a mage, and turn it into lacrima! Lacrima for anyone to use!" Now, the only problem with this machine right now is...well it's violent. In fact, it kills. Mages don't survive but don't worry we are working on the kinks to that for later! But then I thought..hey! Why don't we use the prototype as a punishment first! I mean, these mages tried to kill you right!?" Though he couldn't hear their responses, he could see the cheers if the civilians of each city through the screen, as well as the shocked and horrified faces of not only Fairy Tail and White Eclipse, but the others, Black Phoenix and Twilight Zone.  
"I...I didn't know they were going to do this.." Evanee stated as she dropped her guard.  
"That's going too far!" Tristan yelled as he watched the screen.  
"Yeah they deserve it!" A random citizen of Magnolia yelled out.  
"Take her to the grave!" Another yelled.  
Siegrain allowed the news to settle in, then spoke again. "This is the best part! Like I said before, this machine extracts and then clones magic! Which means...anyone will soon be able to be a mage! No more wasting your money on paying these guilds for your problems! You'll be able to handle them alone! Once this machine is fixed of it's bugs, lacrima will go on the market! And with our promising captures, there will be all kinds, even dragon slaying! Until then..." Siegrain then pointed to Skye and the chair. "Just hang on tight! The show will start in two hours!" Seigrain turned to walk away, the lacrima screen shutting off as well as Magnolia and the other magic-less civilians began cheering and chanting.

"They have Skye! Reve we have to-...Reve!?" As Almaz took his eyes off the closing screen, he looked around to see that Reve has disappeared. All he saw was footprints in the snow, heading back towards the guild.  
He ran full speed, ignoring his own panting as he made his way out of the woods and past the guild.

"Skye...hold on."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Storm the Front Line! A Strategy and an Impulse!

"Uhh...Ugh.." Heather sat up, shaking off the grogginess in her head as her blurry eyes slowly came to a clear vision. "Huh?" She looked at her hands, and then touched her face, no longer feeling the bags under her eyes. "I'm no longer poisoned.."  
"That's the least of our worries." Zalen chimed in.  
"He's right..." Clover added. Heather looked at Zalen and her newer guild mate, and then began to look around where she was. It finally connected. "How did we end up here?" She asked. Clover stood up from the single bed he was sitting on. "The council guards got to us, all three of us thanks to Black Phoenix. Now we're here in this holding cell. What's worse, is that they have some execution chair, and Skye is strapped in."  
"What!?" Heather quickly made her way to her feet. "When is it!?"  
"They say in two hours, about ten minutes ago." Zalen replied. "I don't know how we're gonna get out of here but we have to save her right?" Clover asked.  
"Of course we do! She's one of us we have to-"  
"Hey! Quiet in there!" Cutting Heather off was a large stocky male. He wore a council uniform, just like Rizu's, except it was a light brownish. His scraggly red hair could be seen under his hat. He had a matching rough beard as well. On his shoulders, were chains that wrapped around his torso. He now stood in front of their cell with a snarky grin. The man stood a good six and a half feet tall. "I don't want to hear your pointless conversation. Besides, it's impossible to escape the council stronghold anyways."  
"Stronghold? Is that where we are?" Clover asked. "No shit kid weren't you listening?" The man fired back. He then pointed to himself. "And I'm the warden of this prison floor. Basement floor warden Drail."  
"Your name isn't important to me." Heather retorted as she crossed her arms. "Normally, an idiot like you would be wrong." Drail fired back, leaving Heather sneering at the warden. "But since you'll soon have your turn in the chair, you're right, my name isn't important to you."  
"Hey!" Zalen quickly stepped to the warden, now face to face with him. The only thing that separated them was the impenetrable wall that constricted magic. "What are they going to do with Skye!?"  
"Huh? The assassin girl? Weren't you listening? She's in the chair and she'll be gone in less than two hours. And one of you are up next." Drail began laughing as he started walking off, his chains rattling around his torso with every step he took. "Don't worry, two hours will be here before you know it!"

"Levy...I'm scared." Wendy and Levy sat on the bed of the cell they were now locked in. Wendy stayed close to Levy, as they were not alone. "Don't worry Wendy." Levy stated as she rubbed her shoulder, yet keeping an eye on the figures across from them. "This room constricts magic,  
so they can't attack us."  
"Oh please!" The first figure walks into view. "You fairies I can rip apart without my angelic magic."  
"Now now Angel." The next figure then walked out into view as well. "There's no need to be hostile towards our new guests." Levy quickly stood in front of Wendy. "Stay away from us! We aren't doing anything to you!" Levy yelled. "But miss, your guild is the reason we're in here. Not so much fun when the cuffs are on your wrists huh?"  
"I'm warning you, Zero!" Wendy yelled, making her way around and now standing next to Levy.  
"Ah, the Cait Shelter girl." Zero grinned. He and Angel took a step back. "We have no quarrels with you anymore. We're pretty sure you'll be in that lacrima chair they invented before the day is over."  
"No we won't!" Wendy yelled. "We're gonna be-"  
"I can hear it." A voice from the other side of the hall interrupts Wendy. "I can hear your petty thoughts. You actually believe that Natsu and the others will come and save you in time. Do you not realize where you are?" Cobra walked up to the wall of his cell to become visible. He had a grin on his face as he closed his one good eye, now leaning on the see through wall.  
"You poor fools. Even 'father' here can't escape from the stronghold." Another voice rung out from the same room, and steps later, Midnight appeared. "They even let us try once, and we failed miserably. What makes you think you're goody goody friends can do it?"  
"T-they will!" Wendy stuttered out, tears forming in her eyes. "Just watch!"  
"Sorry kid. I couldn't even outrun them." From their right, though they couldn't see him, Racer spoke. "Me and Hoteye here weren't fast enough. That's how you know that you're stuck here."  
Wendy began shaking her head in denial. "They'll come! Just wait!" Levy gave Wendy a small hug, quietly shushing her as she whimpered. "Be a big girl now, and don't let them get to you. We'll be okay."  
"Aye aye aye aye aye! What's with all this commotion huh?" Wendy and Levy looked up, and now standing at the wall was a tall, slender female wearing a light blue council uniform. Around her waist, a whip dangled down to her knees. She had black hair that ran down to the small of her back. "Valry..." Zero mumbled.  
The female gave a grin as she unwrapped the whip with one tug and whipped it against the ground leaving a small hole from the force. "You causing problems in here, Zero? You want a repeat of last time?" Zero stayed quiet, merely growling at the female before him. "Repeat? Is she that strong?" Levy asked. "Stronger than you think, Levy McGarden." Valry replied. "I am Valry. Second floor prison warden of the Council Stronghold. And you two, are my new guests; temporarily of course." She put her face to the wall and gave an exaggerated smile to them both. "So just sit tight. Your time is coming up soon." Valry then began walking off before she turned one last time. "Oh, and about your friends coming to rescue you as you say. I hope they try, I need some action!"

.

"We're screwed!" Selene yelled as she ran with Kairi. "We left Heather, then we left Clover..!" "No need to point out the obvious!" Kairi yelled back as she kept running forward, trying to make their way out of the woods so they too could hopelessly make a cross country sprint to the council stronghold. As they ran, the council guards still around spotted them, and began charging towards them as well. "There's no time to go around!" Kairi exclaimed. She readied an attack along with Selene, until Trinity dashed right by them, and with his poison claw, he cleared a path with one single strike. "Go!"  
Weren't you just trying to hunt us!?" Selene asked as they ran by.  
"We don't promote death. Not like this. This was our cause, and your guild mates don't deserve to lose their lives now go! Ill hold em off from here!" Kairi and Selene nodded as they didn't hesitate to leave Trinity with the swarm of council guards. Finally making it out of the forest, Kairi and Selene look over to their right, noticing Takeru and the others appear. Somewhat behind them, was the rest of the guild who wasn't captured. "Kairi!" Takeru yelled.  
"We know!" She yelled back. She then turned back ahead to see Aira running towards them. "Aira turn around! We have a problem!"  
"I saw!" The wind mage yelled back, waiting on her guild mates. "There's no way we can make it there in time on foot though! Especially since the stronghold is on an island!"  
"Oh there's a way!" Kairi replied. "We're gonna need help but there's a way to get there in time." She then yelled out. "Everyone! Follow me! We're making a stop at Blue Pegasus!"

She slammed a random guard hard I to the snow, past the many inches as the council guard's head hit the ground with heavy impact. "Your captains didn't say anything about a death penalty!" Serenity growled, holding into his collar with evil intentions. "I...I didn't know either!" The guard cried back. "I'm just doing my job!" "Here's your new job then." Serenity growled. "Survive this fall!" She then launched the guard into the air, losing sight of him as he hit the sky. "Black Phoenix!" She yelled out, her voice echoing through the forest. "We've already agreed!" Tristan added as he dragged a couple of unconscious guards with him. By this time, the other members quickly made their way back to Serenity, Trinity bringing up the rear as he finished off the swarm of guards he was fighting. "They didn't.."  
"We know Hitomi." Serenity says, cutting him off. "We didn't sign up for this. If we did then fuck reading the fine print. We're now on the Fairies and White Eclipse's side. Just like that. Which means for now, our mission has now been...aborted."  
"Fine with me, I'm sure we're already marked for our actions anyways." Mathias added.

"And this is why you can't have mages do your job. Thanks for delivering the message soldier."  
"No problem sir."  
Siegrain broke communications with the lone guard he was speaking with through lacrima. He then began to laugh as he stood in front of Skye. His laughter caused her to stir, and then finally awaken. "Huh? Where...am I?"  
"Oh, you're awake." Siegrain turned to face Skye. She tried to move, but couldn't do to being restricted to the chair. "What's going on!?" She yelled, demanding an answer. "No need to panic Miss Ravenwood. You're just...part of an experiment."  
"An experiment!?" She continued to struggle in her seat, but to no avail. "Let me go!"  
"Oh but I can't do that. I have plans that revolve around you in that chair." He then turned back to the ledge as the wind blew his blue hair southward. "But don't worry, I'm sure someone will come and try to save you soon enough. I'm betting on it."

.

"I feel betrayed. They said nothing about this."  
"Yeah well, that's what you get for trusting Siegrain and the magic council. Now, one of White Eclipse's mages is going to die. "Laxus replied to the nymph mage. Evanee looked up at the dragon slayer. "They have that Wendy and Levy girl too.  
"What!?" Laxus face completely turned to shock. Erza turned back into her normal Heart Kruez armor. "We need to get to the stronghold. If we book it now, we can make it in time to save them."  
"Say no more Erza! The Raijinshū is on it!" Bickslow exclaimed. "On it on it!" His dolls chimed in. Freed then nodded as an awakened Cana and Max slowly stood up, rubbing their heads. "We need to gather the others, and quickly!"  
"No need!" Running up behind Evanee, was the three Strauss siblings, Gray and Juvia, and the guild members from Twilight Zone. "We stopped, because I'm sorry Evanee but we didn't sign up for leading them to a death penalty."  
"I know Rylo. We came to that conclusion already." Evanee. Replied. "Okay! Lets move! This team should be strong enough to storm that place!" Laxus took lead, quickly running towards the shore of Fiore. "Hang on, Levy, Wendy!"

.

"Here they come. Siegrain grinned as alarms began blaring throughout the island. Countless of guards rushed out of the tower and towards the north side of the island. The Bluenette stood on the ledge grinning as he saw three dots in the sky. A few seconds later, they showed to be Natsu, Gajeel and Lucy, being carried by exceeds. "Ah, the fairies are here first. And planning on running in head first? Sounds about right."  
"Man your cannons!" A guard yelled. "Do not let them get through!" Guards left and right ran to positioned cannons that stood at the shore of the island, all eventually taking aim at the three flying mages and waiting for permission to fire.  
"Here we go!" Natsu yelled. "Remember." Gajeel added. "Don't let anything that can constrict your magic get to you! No sealing handcuffs, nothing!  
"Right!" Lucy nodded as she grabbed her keys.  
"Ready! Fire!" A council guard threw his hand down, and the ones manning the cannons open fired. Beams of Etherion hurled towards the incoming mages. "Lookout!" Natsu yelled, and the three exceeds scattered. Evading the incoming beams. "Etherion cannons!? Miniature versions? Where did they get the stuff for this!?" Lucy asked. "It's the council, they get what they want." Charla replied.  
"Quick lets get to the ground!" Gajeel pointed as Lily began swooping down at a fast pace, directly towards the cannons. "Roar, of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu fired off a giant funnel of fire dragon magic, right into one of the cannons, causing it to explode as the guards around it scattered. A few more explode around it from the radius of the first one, causing even more guards to scatter as well. "Look out!"  
"Alright!" Lucy reached for a key. "Charla, drop me in the water!"  
"Finally!" The exceed responded, not hesitating to let the celestial mage go. Lucy plummeted into the ocean just off the shore of the island, just dodging a beam of Etherion. A few seconds later, a beam of light appeared and slowly rising from the water was Aquarius. Her calm demeanor quickly turned into her usual psychotic expression as she began inhaling the water with her jar. "I'll sweep you all away!" The mermaid yelled as she did just that, clearing nearly the entire front line with her magic, leaving only a few cannons standing. By this time, Lily dropped Gajeel onto the beach. The iron dragon slayer came to a sliding stop, right beside a manned cannon. He grabbed the guard controlling it, and launched him out of the cannon, over Lucy's head who just made it to shore and into the ocean. "Gihi! Lets see how this works!" Gajeel hopped onto the controls and turned the cannon to the other few remaining ones. With a lucky guess, he opened fired, destroying the remaining cannons before denting the one he was controlling with his iron fist until it was beyond use. Natsu had just touched down as well, and the three mages and exceeds immediately take off towards the tower.  
"HA! See that! And they're not even White Eclipse mages! Just wait until Reve and the others get here!" Skye boasted. Siegrain turned to the mage with a smile and walked towards her. He then bent down to her, and backhanded her across her cheek. "Quiet now. You're pretty dumb if you think I expected that to stop anyone, let alone The Salamander and the others. This is all a test. I want them to get as far as possible. Because it's not about getting in dear Skye. It's about escaping..."

.

He panted heavily, yet he still pushed through his exhaustion. Reve was out in the seemingly endless plains, running south as he made his way to the stronghold. No matter how hopeless it seemed, the gunslinger ran as if he was going to make it within the next hour. "Skye.. I'm coming! I won't let you die like that just hang on okay!"  
"Reve! Reve!" As the gunslinger ran, a giant shadow hovered over him. He didn't look up until her heard Kairi's voice call out to him. "Reve you stubborn idiot look up!" He finally looked up, to see the Blue Pegasus ship Christina fly over him. A wave of relief washed over him as he gave a wave back.  
Now on the ship, he stood panting as he attempted to catch his breath. Kairi then came up behind him and punched the gunslinger in the back of the head. "You're lucky Heather got captured too! Or you'd get a mouthful about letting Skye get captured. Skye, Reve!? Weren't you watching her!?"  
"I...I kinda yelled at her, and told her to go scout some area that didn't need scouting. This is my fault."  
"Oh! That's different, then I can cuss you out! You idiot!"  
"Calm down!" Taya interjected. She stood next to her sister Nami along with the rest of the guild. "What we need now is a plan."  
"A plan indeed." From a door appeared Ichiya and the Trimen. "A plan would be the best perfume right now."  
"The only plan we need is to go in there and stop them from killing Skye!" Reve exclaimed. Taya shook her head. "Okay, now lets think of an actual form of attack. We'll be there shortly thanks to Blue Pegasus." Before Ren, Hibiki and Eve could say anything. They slid to Taya, ready to flirt with her, but now stood with bumps on their heads before they could get a word out. "Now is not the time!"  
"Okay! Plan time!" Kuro yelled.  
"Ah but before you make this plan..." Ichiya interrupted. "We have to make a quick scoop up." He winked and pointed off to the right. "Isn't that where they are Hibiki?"  
Hibiki reactivated his archive magic then shook his head. "To the left Senpai."  
Ichiya then majestically spun  
And pointed to the left of the ship, now noticing a couple of mages running southward as well. "Is that..." Reve paused.  
"Hey it's Fairy Tail!" Kuro yelled as he began waving. "Hi! Hello! Gray, Erza, Laxus! Over here! And look they're with other mages...that I don't know!" Reve crossed his arms as the ship turned to the running mages, quickly flying over them. He was only focused on one thing. "Hang on guys... We're coming."

.

With a fiery explosion, the door to the stronghold breaks open. Natsu Gajeel and Lucy run through, Lucy bringing up the rear as Natsu and Gajeel fight their way through the wave of guards in front of them. "Fire Dragon's wing slash!" "Iron Dragon's club!" Natsu goes soaring by a groups of council guards, his fiery attack tossing them into the air every which way; while Gajeel used his iron club to take out an entire line of the council guards in the way. The continued to attack the seemingly endless swarm with ease as Lucy and the exceeds watched. "It never gets old huh?" Charla says. They all then shake their head in unison, agreeing on the unbelievable strength between the two. "Natsu is still better." Happy whispered, causing Lily to side eye the blue exceed. "Don't start."  
The coast was clear, and then they all begin running through again until they finally came to a staircase, leading both ways. "Lily! Charla!" Gajeel yelled as he quickly made his way down to the basement floor. "Right!" They both followed him down as Lucy and Happy quickly followed Natsu upward. "Levy! Wendy!" Natsu yelled as he continued to run up the staircase. "Levy! Wendy!"  
"Natsu!" Wendy's ears perked up. And she ran to the wall that held her from freedom. She then began banging on the wall. "Natsu!"  
"Well well." Cobra chuckled. "He's in...but now that he's here. How will he get out."  
"He won't!" Valry says with a laugh, snapping her whip by her side. "We have a perfect record to keep. So come on Salamander.

Come join your friends in the council stronghold!"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Raid on the Stronghold! Enter the Lieutenants!

"Get out of the way!" Natsu yelled as he slammed a fiery uppercut into a bunch of council guards. The explosiveness behind his punches sent a group of council guards flying every which way. "Rush them and take them down!" A council guard yelled. "Cuffed them both and take them down!" The wave of guards rush the two mages and Happy. "I said. Out of the way!" Natsu picks up speed, running into the wave of guards head first. At first, as he hit the middle of the wave, the guards piled on top of him. Seconds later after a brief struggle, a towering inferno shoots out from the middle, blowing the guards away and off of The Salamander as he roared in what seemed like frustration. "There's so many!" Happy yelled as the wave of guards continued to grow, swarming around Natsu. "We're gonna need help!"  
Lucy gave a grin as she held up a key. "We have all the help we need. Gate of the Lion, Loke!" Out of his gate, the celestial lion, Loke appeared next to Lucy, pushing his glasses up to his eyes. "You called?"  
Lucy then pointed towards the crowd of guards surrounding Natsu. "Help Natsu out!" Loke nodded, and then leaped into the middle of the mob of soldiers, now back to back with The Salamander as he held a grin. Natsu nodded back to his new found back up, and then they both simultaneously charge into the wave of guards, a mixture of celestial and fire dragon magic coming from their fists and flying every which way. The room was cleared within minutes. "Good job Loke!" Lucy exclaimed happily to her celestial spirit. "Anything for your love, Lucy." Loke then appeared where Lucy was once standing, now carrying the celestial mage bridal style. "Alright...time for you to go back..now." Lucy replied as she gave him a shooing type of wave. As Lucy hopped down from the disappearing Loke, more footsteps were heard coming from behind. "They're swarming us!" Happy yelled as he flailed about. "Don't worry about them! Lets keep going ahead!" Natsu replied as he ran forward. Lucy and Happy quickly followed behind The Salamander.

"I don't know Valry." Cobra says as he gave the warden a smirk. "This guy that's on his way here. He's pretty different. He's the reason we're all in here."  
Valry snapped her whip again. She then gave a "Tch" as she turned her attention to Cobra, placing a hand on her hips. "That's not a hard fear Erik."  
"Don't call me that!" Cobra snapped back, placing his hands against the wall as if he had the ability to break it down. Valry then began laughing. "If they even make it here, they won't get past me. I can tell by the noise going on that they're making progress. But all of that stops now. "Valry smirks as she digs through her pocket, picking up a whistle soon after. She placed the whistle to her lips and gave a blow. Cobra covered his ears in pain as the high pitched sound echoed throughout the halls. Seconds later, two men in council guard uniform, both of them identical except one of them had white hair while the other's was black, comically ran up to Valry. They now stood in front of her, saluting. They both were short in height, about five feet five inches each and scrawny statured as well. "Mam! Second floor Lieutenants twins White and Black reporting for duty mam!" The two spoke in unison. "At ease loves." Valry commanded, causing them to drop their salutes. "As you can hear, we have some intruders coming this way. You know the drill. Don't let them past you. Apprehend them and give them a nice prison cell to stay comfy in okay?"  
"Yes mam!" The two spoke again. They both then turned around. White gave off a blinding light that quickly disappeared, along with both lieutenants. Valry then turned back to Levy and Wendy with her same grin, snapping her whip once more. "You fools have no idea about the soldiers and weapons we hold within this stronghold. This is only the second floor, for higher up criminals like yourself. Yet, this isn't even the toughest floor. Besides the basement, the higher you go the harder it is. I hope they didn't plan on saving that Skye girl, because if somehow they do manage to get past me, which won't happen, it only gets much harder from here.

Pantherlily and Gajeel ran in front of Charla, slamming their fists into any and every council soldier that dared step in their way. Making short work of the waves in front of them, they continued running through the long hallway on the basement floor. As soon as they turned the corner, Gajeel grabbed the lone guard by his collar and slammed him into the floor, quickly knocking him unconscious. Lily then ran ahead, catching two more of the guards attention. Before the could react, Lily scooped them both up in each arm, and rammed them into the opposite wall, knocking them out cold. They continued their run down the hallway, Gajeel looking inside each cell to see if he saw his guild mates. Nothing. "Tch.." He kept running along with the two exceeds, turning the corner once more until they came to what seemed like a dead end. At the end however, was what seemed like an elevator, sitting above a body of water. Lily walked towards the clear blue water, now standing on the ledge as he looked down into the water. "...there's another floor down there. But I doubt anyone can hold their breath that long."  
"Know what that means." Charla says as she nudged Gajeel's leg and then pointed to the elevator. Immediately, Gajeel began feeling ill as sweat began to form on his forehead. "...Lets get it over with." As he spoke, he heard more footsteps coming their way. "Quickly! Before the catch up!" He and the two exceeds run over to the elevator, hopping inside as the door closes. Pantherlily pressed the only button inside the elevator and the second it started descending, Gajeel began gagging, holding his hand over his mouth as his face began turning blue. Lily patted his partner on the back. "Hang in there..." Charla looked out the only visible window that was also the door as they descending down. "We're in the ocean...they've really put this place together.." The white exceed noted. Once the elevator stopped, the doors opened to it's new floor. Gajeel crawled out, trying to regain his composure. "Ugh...they better be here..." The Iron Dragon slayer groaned out. Pantherlily and Charla stop as Gajeel crawls a few more feet until he runs into someone's legs. He looks up to see an average height male with purple hair that fell to his shoulders. He wore the standard council guard uniform. On his hands, were tattoos of different designs, running all the way to his finger tips. Under his chin, more tattoos could be seen as well; random designs that were hard to make out due to his clothing covering them up. The purple haired male narrowed his eyes at the slowly recovering Dragon Slayer. "And what do you think you're doing?" He asked. Gajeel couldn't answer. Instead he began forcing his way up to his feet. "Who are you and where are our friends!?" Lily shouted. "Who am I?" The male in front of them grinned as he tipped his hat back a bit. "My name is Dól. I'm the lieutenant warden of the true basement floor inside the council stronghold. And it seems like you're the intruders we've heard about. Wait! I know you! You're Gajeel Redfox! You used to be in Phantom Lord. Weak little dark guilds are my specialty in torturing down here."  
Gajeel now stood, finally shaking off the rest of his motion sickness as he stood firm against the male that was just shorter than him. "That's nice and all, but that's the past. I'm a Fairy Tail wizard now." Dól began laughing. "Crimes don't erase so easily Redfox. Especially when you've never served for them. But enough talk, like I said, you're trespassing..." The lieutenant unbuttoned and threw away his shirt, revealing his torso and arms to be covered with different types of tattoo designs and art overlapping one another. "Breaking and entering is a crime, along with attempting to free a prisoner. I'm afraid I'm gonna have to bring you in."  
"Gihi! Give it your best shot! One on one, lets go!"  
"Oh no...this isn't a one on one." As Dól finished speaking, more running footsteps could be heard behind him. The sound of council guards nearing them grew ever so louder. "If you haven't heard by now, Redfox; getting in is the easy part. Leaving here with your freedom is the impossible task."

.

"And there they are!" Siegrain exclaimed, feigning joy and excitement. Skye looked up to see what the council leader was going on about, and noticed a giant ship in the air, floating towards the island. A smile slowly etched across her face as she watched the Blue Pegasus vessel come into clear view. Her smile grew even wider when she saw Reve standing on the front edge. "I knew they would come.." She said to herself, smiling. "Of course they would little Skye." Siegrain replied as if she was talking to him. "I want them to come. But if they think that they're getting a first class trip to the roof, oh they are sadly mistaken. Men!"  
"You all remember the plan right?" Erza asked as she looked over the bodies that were joining in on the raid. With Fairy Tail, Erza, Laxus, Gray and Juvia were going to raid the stronghold along with White Eclipse's Reve, Takeru, Taya, Nami and Kairi, and Twilight Zone's Evanee and Rylo. They all stood in a group, except for Reve who stood on the nose of the ship, as the others stood away from them. Erza began to speak again. "If you can't get to the roof, then keep the guards outside busy to that it doesn't get too crowded for us inside. They'll be looking to apprehend you, so watch out for any magic sealing cuffs or anything that can restrict you...take no prisoners.  
"Don't let us down Flynn, Alexander, Melanie, Ceaser, Taranis." Evanee nodded to her guild mates as Rylo stood behind her with a grin. "Just don't get captured, shorty." The orange haired Ceaser replied. "Look who you're talking to here, Ceaser." Rylo says as he tips his hat.  
"Good luck guys!" Kuro yelled towards his guild members. Taya and Nami gave Kuro a slight wave as he ship now hovered over the island shore. "Okay Jaxon!" Taya exclaimed to the weather mage. "Give us cover!" "Right!" Jaxon nodded, and with both hands in the air, a green magic seal formed in the sky, creating a sea of dark clouds above the tower. Immediately afterwards, it began raining heavily. The rain was so heavy, it was near impossible to see. As the rain poured down, the mages jumped off of Blue Pegasus'a ship. Erza last to jump due to Ichiya hugging her leg like a affectionate puppy. She kicked him away violently back into the ship as she leaped down to catch up with the others as they ran for the open doors of the stronghold.  
Skye and Siegrain looked up, noticing the rain falling from the sky, leaving no visible sight of anything. Siegrain grinned and Skye looked on in confusion as they somehow remained dry. Sky narrowed her eyes to try and focus on the falling rain  
And after a few seconds she caught on. "A dome..."  
"Not just any dome Skye." Siegrain replied. "This dome is impenetrable. Things can go out, but never in. You'll see soon enough, just watch."  
"No.." Skye looked on as the ship came closer and closer. Now sitting on the edge was Bickslow and Selene. "Guys! Don't fire!" Skye yelled, but it was to no avail. They couldn't really hear her through the heavy rain fall. "Okay my babies! Aim for that blue haired tyrant and let him have it!" The dolls followed Bickslow's orders and all fired simultaneously towards the council leader. "Roar..of the Diamond Dragon!" Selene added to the dolls' beams with her Diamond Dragon Roar. The unison raid rushes forward, and slams into the invisible dome, only to be bounced back towards the ship at twice the speed. "Heads up!" One of the Trimen Ren yelled, causing everyone to dive to the deck. The reflected unison raid then slams into the flying ship, creating a hole right through the middle. "Hang on, we're going down!" Eve yelled. The ship flies over the tower and then plummets into the island sand behind it, coming to a violent sliding stop. "Is everyone okay?"" Hibiki asked. Though a few people groaned in pain, everyone seemed to be alright. "You guys remember what Erza said." Waiston called out to the others. "Lets take these guys out until they can save our friends!"  
"Raijinshū!" Freed yelled, causing Bickslow and Evergreen to now float by his side. Cana stood as well, holding her cards in her left hand while Gray stood shirtless next to Juvia.  
"Alright White Eclipse." Jack says as he nonchalantly gives a call to his guildmates. "Lets do this so I can get a drink soon."  
"Oi! Shorties!" Ceaser only had to call once for Melanie Taranis Flynn and Alexander to join by his side. As the rain from Jaxon's spell stopped, a flood of guards rushed out of the towers back doors. What seemed like an endless sea of them, we're now charging head on towards the mages. As the last bit of the enormous wave of council guards poured out, behind them were two male guards, wearing matching silver uniforms. One of them was tall and athletically built. He had dark red hair. So dark that the red tint barely showed through. He looked over to his right to see the other male. He stood a bit taller, yet lanky in stature. He was a brunette, his hair short and spiky. The brunette looked back towards the dark red head. "I didn't think we were ever gonna get a run, Trace."  
The red head, now known as Trace, turned back to the brunette with a toothy grin. "We're never called on unless someone somehow makes if out the tower. It's going to be new to keep someone from entering, Cal."

Siegrain continued to watch from the tower's roof, now standing at the ledge behind Skye. He watched the scene on the ground with a smile on his face. As he looked on, Rizu appeared, walking up behind him after entering from the stairs. He cleared his throat. "Hm?" Siegrain turned to see the head warden now in front of him. He then turned back around to enjoy his view. "Rizu, just I time. Come see this beautiful sight."  
The head warden walked over, now standing beside the bluenette as he looked down. "Trace and Cal huh? Nice little plan, using the capture team as a blockade against the other mages."  
"Not really a plan, more like a...an act, for my amusement."  
Rizu raised a brow at Siegrain's words. He then shrugged. "Anyways.." He pointed behind him as a few guards brought up a throne like chair, and sat it across from Skye herself, right next to what seemed to be the control switch. "Your chair is here. Also, Dragneel is on the second floor and Redfox is in the basement. Just a heads up. I'll be heading back to the top floor, just in case someone is able to slip through." Rizu then turns on his heel, walking away from Siegrain as he headed for the stairs. The council leader continues to watch the action on the ground for a bit, then finally turns and walks to the chair. As he sits, he crosses one leg over the other, staring at Skye who scowled back at him. A grin slowly appeared on his face as he entangled his fingers between one another. "One hour, Skye. You're not nervous are you?"  
Skye refused to answer him. Instead she glared towards Siegrain, her eyes telling him exactly how she felt. "You look nervous." He said condescendingly. "I wonder now much people would pay for your magic? You put on a great show a while back against Erza in the Grand Magic Games. I'm sure if we showed those highlights, we could sell your lacrima for a higher price than it's actually worth."  
Skye lowered her head, her messy hair covering her face as she leaned over. "You're sick.."  
"Sick? Oh no I'm not sick you misguided cretin." He then shifted to the edge of his seat, leaning forwards as well in attempt to catch her line of sight. "You annoying guild mages brought this on yourself. You brought Zeref alive. You nearly killed this entire country. The world was about to change for the worst because of you all-"  
"THATS NOT TRUE!"  
"BUT IT IS!" Siegrain rose from his seat, but as soon as he stood, he took in a deep breath, and sat back down, grinning as if he was never upset just then. "And now, you'll all pay the price for it. So hold on for another...fifty five minutes. Your final hour is approaching."

.

"Dazzling Blaze! Of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu through a giant orb of flames into a crowd of guards, causing them to crash into opposite walls and clearing a path for the three to run through. "Levy! Wendy! Are you here!" All Natsu could hear was the random excessive talk of the prisoners from each cell he passed. Random "You won't make it out of here"s rung through the halls everywhere except the ears of the dragon slayer. As they ran, Lucy, Natsu and Happy pass a staircase. "Natsu!" Happy yelled.  
"We'll come back go it Happy!" Natsu replied as he looked back towards his partner. "We have to make sure that they're not on this floor!" "Aye sir!" Happy yelled as they continued to run through the hallway. Suddenly, the hallways became empty. No cells or anything. They ignored it as they kept running, but as they did, the hallway turns completely white, almost too bright for the mages to have their eyes focused. "What is this!?" Lucy asked as they came to a stop. All three of them look around the now extremely white hallway, unable to tell which way was which once they lost the way they were headed. "Everything is completely white.." Lucy commented once again, still looking around. "There aren't any doors or anything."  
"Natsu look!" Happy pointed ahead, now pointing at the white and black haired males that Valry summoned earlier. They seemingly arose from the ground, both bowing to the three in front of them. The black haired male then began to speak. "Hello! I'm Black! And this is White! We are the lieutenant wardens of this floor!"  
The white haired male then began to speak. "And I'm afraid, this is as far as you go! So thanks for playing, but it's time to pay for your crimes for breaking into the council stronghold." "Get out of the way!" Natsu yelled. He enflamed both his fists as he stood across from the two lieutenants "I'll burn you both into ashes for getting in the way!"

.  
Gajeel and Dól square off, neither one making a move for an entire minute. Finally, Dól slides his foot forward, then crosses his arms over his excessively tattooed body. He grinned, and a magic seal appeared on his right shoulder blade, causing a tattoo from that spot to move. Seconds later, the tattoo slides off his body and appears beside him. The tattoo then expands and comes go life, appearing as a giant steel hammer. Dól grabbed the hammer and lifted it over his shoulders effortlessly. "What's that? Picture magic or something?" Gajeel looked on in confusion. "He's like Reedus, except with tattoos." Lily said, commenting on his observations. The purple haired mage then flipped his left hand over, another magic seal spinning over his palm. The tattoo in his palm slid off of his skin, then attached itself to the hammer, appearing as a lightning bolt. As it came alive, the hammer now sparked wildly as Dól stared the dragon slayer down. Without hesitation, he swung the hammer down to the floor, causing electrical currents to rush towards Redfox. Gajeel quickly jumped out the way, but as soon as he did, Dól appeared in the air beside him. "Fast!" Was Gajeel's only words as Dól slammed a horizontal swing against Gajeel's ribs, causing a shock to the Iron Dragon Slayer. The impact sent him crashing into the ground as well.  
"Gajeel!" Lily expanded back into his fighting size and rushed towards the lieutenant. As he did, another magic seal appeared at the top of his spine, and another tattoo began sliding all the way down his back and off the heel of his foot. Before Pantherlily knew it, he was being constricted by a giant snake. "Lily!" Charla yelled out, yet she knew she was unable to help either the slayer nor the exceed. Dól placed the hammer back on his shoulders as he shook his head at the Black Steel. "That's a shame. I expected more. I guess I'll end this quickly."  
"Gi...heh." Gajeel made his way to his feet once more. "If you think it's that easy to beat me... Then that feeble mind of yours will he your downfall."

.  
"Move it!" Reve literally rammed through a crowd of guards shoulder first as he ran through the first floor of the stronghold. Behind him, everyone followed. Not by choice, but from the fact that Reve was recklessly running full speed to get to the roof. As he ran, more guards meet him halfway, taking up the entire hallway. Reve didn't stop running however, and while he kept pace, he requipped two assault rifle styled celestial guns into his hands. The guards stayed readied, pointing their weapons towards the gunslinger. Reve quickly scaled the wall, up to the ceiling. Running off of pure adrenaline, he jumped off the ceiling, and in one slowed motion, magic seals used as targets popped up all around the crowd of guards as the gawked at the flipping mage. "...Bang." Reve unloaded, firing a seemingly endless wave of beams of magic that tore through the guards that no longer stood in his way. Without a body count, Reve landed and quickly took off again, running up the stairs to the second floor. "Tch. He's too reckless!" Evanee exclaimed as she slammed a hard uppercut to the gut of one of the remaining guards in her way.  
"I have to agree." Taya added. Usually Reve was the most accurate mage alive, but he was in such a rush that more than half the guards survived. "No time to observe his mistakes." Laxus stated as he fired off a bolt of lightning towards the guards, shocking them and causing them to scatter against their will. Kairi and Takeru were the next two up the stairs. Rylo hit the breaks and tugged on Evanee's arm. "What?" The ace turned to the magician pointing to the stairs leading down to another floor. "Lets try there instead." Rylo says as he and Evanee begin running down them. "I'm going too!" Nami yelled as she slid down the rail to catch up.  
"Nami!"  
"I'll be fine Taya! Follow Reve!" Nami yelled back before actually being scolded by her sister. Taya shook her head and began running up the stairs with the rest of them.  
Reve was already half way through the second floor thanks to the work of Natsu and Lucy. He didn't pay any attention however as he kept running, now holding a single pistol in his hand. He picked off any soldier in the way as he made his way to the stairs that Natsu and the others skipped. He only had one objective on his mind, and his plan was to keep going up until he made it to the roof. The other members weren't far behind...at first. But as they ran towards the stairs, they were quickly cut off by another swarm of guards. "The numbers don't stop!" Gray whined as he readies himself for an ice make technique. Juvia stood next to him, ready to strike as well. The rest of them stood in a line, and altogether they rushed the incoming wave of guards, meeting them halfway for another brawl.  
On the top floor, Rizu watched a monitor, noticing the gunslinger sprint down the third floor hallway. "Heh, wrong way gunslinger." The blue haired warden grinned. Behind him, Correll, and Odin stood with their arms folded. "Well, I guess nows a good time to join the fun on the second floor. It's getting crowded there." Correll smirked as he turned on his heels and began walking out of the room. Rizu looked up towards Odin. "Aren't you going to join the fun as well?" He asked. Odin shook his head. "Not until my higher up gives me the order. Siegrain is my jurisdiction."  
Rizu shook his head mockingly he turned back to the monitor. He then pressed a button. "Bull, you and your lieutenants have company. He'll be around in about five minutes."  
They heard the message loud and clear. In the shadows, four figures were seen. One of them were sitting down, the other three standing. "They always go the wrong way." One of the standing figures said, ending his statement with a horrendously goofy laugh. Though his physical features couldn't be seen, it appeared as if he was levitating three orbs. "That's fine with me." Another one spoke, the tone proving her to be a female. She lifted her arms in the air, and bent her entire body backwards; so far that when she finished, her torso was between her legs. The third one didn't say a word. Instead he held his arms out as if he was holding a gun. He jerked back as if he pulled the trigger, yet...when he did, an actual "bang" was heard, causing everyone but the figure sitting to flinch. He then acted as if a noose was around his neck, and as he lifted his arm up from his neck to show the charade, he actually began to float and gag as if he was being hung. The man sitting gave a single chuckle as he stayed seated, looking ahead the whole time as Reve's footsteps became louder. "My lieutenants are ready. The Entertainment Trio never fails.

I won't even have to lift a finger."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Panic at the Stronghold! An Assassins final hour.

"Fire Make: Spears!"  
"Gravity Gods Bellow!"  
"Wind Blades!"  
The three attacks from Aira, Kuro, and Cygnus slam into their opposing wave of council guards in front of them, causing some to scatter while most took the attack painfully. The three mages stood back to back as more guards continued to swarm around them. Just off to the right, was the rest of their guild. Jaxon strained the muscles in his right hand, creating a large tornado that quickly went upon a rampage, violently picking any guard in the way off his or her feet and spitting them out. The force of the spinning winds would send anyone caught inside flying off in different directions at an insane speed. Jack began swaying back and forth in a drunken manner. He kept a smirk on his face as he easily maneuvered away from the guards attempt to subdue him. His evasiveness was more than frustrating as the guards would quickly let their guard down long enough for Jack to take clean punches and kicks to their persons. "Not even using magic. What kind of stronghold is this?" Jack Royal asked with a grin. He hiccuped once, and then he turned to notice someone staring him down from the stronghold back entrance. "You look worthy." The council red head Trace called out, grinning at the drunk. Jack returned the grin, and lifted his hands up to his shoulder, feigning an exposure. "I really ain't shit in my opinion. You guys are just much worse." The grin on his face really showed the downplay on his own ability, but though Trace stayed grinning as well, he wasn't fooled. "Well then, I'll show you how much of a shit you really are." Trace then began walking towards the drunken earth Jack Royal. As he neared him, a magic seal appeared before the dark red head. He stepped through it and as he did, three more copies of him appeared beside him. A bit surprised at first, Jack smirks again as he sways to himself, back and forth. Suddenly, Royal was surrounded. All four Traces slid into a fighting stance as they stalked the White Eclipse mage. Jack watched carefully as all five of them stood still for the seconds before the fight, the only thing moving was Jack's swaying and his shifting eyes. Finally, all four Traces take off simultaneously. The one to the right threw a high right hook that Royal sways away from. He then hops over the left Trace's leg sweep, but now has to hold his arms in an X to block the incoming high kick that the northern Trace threw towards his sternum. Jack goes sliding back, right into the last of the red head's arms. Trace locks his hands around Jack's waist and lifts him, slamming him over his head and backwards. The four clones of the clone mage quickly line back up in their stance as they wait for Jack to respond. Suddenly, the earth itself begins to shake. A brown aura begins to shine around Jack Royal as he pushes himself out of the ground and back to a stance. "A grappler huh? Doesn't help that you're a clone mage. That's fine." Jack sneered a bit and then stomped the ground, causing the earth around him to break apart into well sized pieces, now floating around him. "I hate being a serious drunk, but you've pushed it out of me."

On the opposite side of the stronghold's backyard, Twilight Zone and Fairy Tail mages stood in front of the broken Blue Pegasus ship, holding off any and every guard as Blue Pegasus themselves began repairing the ship. Taranis began running a current of lightning all around his body. It was too late for the charging guards to stop their momentum as the slid right into the demon slayer. Taranis began slugging uppercuts and hooks into the guards left and right, not only inflicting pain from the impact, but heavily shocking them as well. As Taranis continued to clear his area out, Flynn and Melanie began there's. As the swarm of guards charged them, Flynn snapped his fingers, creating his patented magic seal that caused anyone inside to drastically decrease their speed. The council soldiers all carried dumbfounded expressions upon their face, but before they could realize what happened, Melanie began inhaling the air around her. "Roar of the Water Dragon!" The petite blond fired a heavy funnel of water dragon magic towards the turtle paced council guards, slamming her attack into the lot of them.  
A bit more to the right, Fairy Tail was in action as Evergreen lifts her glasses with a grin. Her eyes then let off yellow circular waves. As the incoming guards rush towards her, once they have clear view of her eyes they immediately turn to stone, now standing frozen in their stone shells like statues. Elfman then leaped foward, changing into his Beast Soul takeover in the process. He landed in the middle of a swarm of guards in his takeover, gave out a giant roar, and began slamming his fists into anyone close by, clearing out the lot of guards. Bickslow stood laughing, arms and tongue hanging out, showing off his Fairy Tail insignia. As he did so, his "babies" appeared floating around him, and then fired off their beams into the group of soldiers around him. The rest of Fairy Tail and Twilight Zone continue to what seems like dominate the council guards as well, all while Ceaser and Mirajane stood in the middle. Ceaser was already in his Horus takeover, as Mirajane stood in her Satan soul, both waiting for the guards to attack them. No one dared stepped to them. The council guards stepped away from the two mages, some even trembling as the low glares and high magic auras of the two mages filled the area. "Move out the way you cowards." From the back of the cowering crowd of council soldiers, Cal, the second half of the Capture team of the Council Stronghold, made his way to the front. The brunette stood in front of Ceaser and Mirajane. As he stood across from the two, a bright golden light began to form around his hands. "Sir Cal...!" A random guard called out. "I said out of the way!" He called back. "Go handle the other mages with your fellow soldiers." Cal now stood across from the two takeover mages, grinning. Ceaser took a step forwards, holding his sword on his shoulder. He stood just a foot away from the Capture Team guard with an intense stare. Ceaser would then raise his sword, and swing the heavy blade downward, aiming for Cal's head with no remorse. As he did so, Cal raised a hand over his head, and somehow caught the sword with his left golden glowing hand. The impact caused a shockwave around them, yet the councilman was unaffected by neither the blade nor the strength behind it. With his hand on the blade, a small magic seal began to form in his hands. Soon after, the blade began to turn solid gold, becoming heavier and heavier in the process as Cal let his grip go. Ceaser was now struggling, and eventually dropped the too heavy sword. He looked back at Cal in confusion. "Midas mage." Cal said with a grin. "Whenever my hands are activated, I can turn anything into gold temporarily. You should give up now."  
"Or we'll just keep our distance!" Mirajane took a step back, cupping her hands as she began charging her. "Soul Extinction!" She yelled as she threw her hands forward, firing off a beam of dark magic, the beam hurling straight for Cal. The councilman grinned and lifted his right hand, a magic seal forming at the palm. He then fired off golden beam of his own. The two beams colliding, the force between the two causing an explosion and a tremor around them. Mirajane waited for the smoke the clear, but Cal didn't as he rushed through the blinding smoke, and grabbed the demon by her right arm. Immediately, her arm began turning to solid gold. She struggled but couldn't free herself from his grip. Finally, with a kick to his chest, Mirajane was able to pull herself away from Cal's grip, now sliding away a bit until she quickly came to a stop. Mirajane tried to stand up straight but now, her gold covered forearm plagued her from doing so. As she slowly picked herself up to fight the weight of her arm, Cal began to laugh. "Uh oh! Heavy right? Don't worry, you'll all be in prison cells soon. I'm sure the Midas Touch will wear off by then."

.

"About forty five minutes left...! Hang on Skye!" Reve continued running down the hallway, unknowingly heading in the wrong direction. Yet, he continued his sprint despite being short of breath. He ran down the lengthy hallway until he noticed a shadowy dead end. He kept running however, just to make sure there wasn't a door or anything to run through. Near the end of the dead end hallway, he stopped running, now noticing four figures in front of him. He began scanning as the three standing walked out of the darkness. "Well well, congratulations on making it this far." The female, who was continuously stretching, had black hair and blue eyes. She stood barefoot as she wore a purple full body suit that held the council insignia on it's back and shoulders. "But this is where your run ends, pal." With his obnoxiously goofy laugh, the male with the three levitating spheres stepped out of the shadows. He wore a council hat with bright red hair sticking out from the sides. He wore a near bright yellow council outfit with red buttons and shoes. His green eyes darted towards Reve as the third figure stepped out as well. He stood in a black and white council outfit and hat. His skin was completely pale, nearly white. Without saying a word, he ran his thumb across his neck like a knife, signifying the end to the gunslinger. The red head began to speak again. "I'm Sully, that's Vivy and this is Wallace; and we are.." The three of them would then strike a pose next to each other. "The entertainment trio!" Sully, the red head then began speaking again with a cocky grin. "We're the assistant wardens on this floor. A floor that no ones ever gotten past. And you're not going to be any diff-DID HE JUST LEAVE!?"  
Wallace began nodding his head vigorously to answer Sully's question as Vivy face palmed. "You were overdoing it again with the speech, Sully!" She groaned. "Well?" The shadowy figure behind them says in a deep, threatening tone. "Why aren't you after him?"  
Sully and the others quickly saluted. "Y-yes sir! We're on it!" The red head replied. The three assistant wardens then quickly run off to catch up to Reve.  
"That was a dead end, so I guess the stairs are this way!" Reve says to himself as he continues running. He was back into a full sprint, lowering his head to run as fast as he could to make up for lost time. A few strides later, he found himself on the ground. He sat up, rubbing his head in pain. "What did I..?" Reve stood up, and took a step forward, leading with his hand. His hand pressed against what seemed to be an invisible wall. "This wasn't here earlier?" He questioned. He continued to feel around the wall, looking for an opening. "It's no use." Reve turned around to the familiar voice. "Hm?" Reve turned back around to see the trio behind him. "And don't you ever run away while I'm talking again!" Sully yelled. "I don't have time for this!" Reve barked back. He then turned back to the invisible wall, requipping a shotgun styled celestial gun into his hands. He then took aim at the wall, charging his shot but before he could fire, Wallace began doing a charade of him twirling a rope. He then flung the invisible rope towards Reve, lassoing it around his shotgun. Wallace then yanked the gun out of Reve's hand, causing it to vanish. Reve turned around in confusion. "How did he..?"  
Sully and Vivy began laughing; Wallace too, but his laughter was mute even though he showed the exaggerated action. "It's a secret." Vivy said, smirking. "Our magic is one of a kind."  
"It's not that special." Reve fired back. He took track of the time in his head. "Thirty five minutes. I guess ill have to finish you three off quickly."

.

Gajeel's grin widened as he stood across from Dól. He clenched both of his fists as he begins to glow a green aura for a few seconds. Seconds later, he now dawned his iron scales all over his body. "Gihihihi! Now lets try for round two!" The dragon slayer says as he stands tall against the purple headed assistant warden. Dól stood unimpressed. He shook his head as another magic seal appeared on his body, on his ribs. "They never learn." Was his only words as a plate of armor wrapped around his torso. It was silver, and as skin tight as armor could be. Gajeel and Dól rushed towards each other, the Iron Dragon' fist meeting head on with the electric hammer. By strength the two collided into a stalemate. However, the electric sparks from the hammer began to fly off and charge into Gajeel repeatedly, shocking the mage each time. Eventually, Gajeel would succumb to the electricity and opt out of the stalemate. He swayed his body to the side, allowing Dól's own momentum to carry him forward. Gajeel would then swing a hard iron covered right fist towards the assistant warden's jaw. Dól would quickly turn and raise his hammer to block the incoming attack. Once again, lightning began flying each way, sparking into Gajeel as his fist connected with the hammer. "Tch! Dammit!" Gajeel reared his head back in frustration, and then threw it forward, only to have the head butt stopped from the hammer just like his other attacks. The electric shock sent the Dragon Slayer slamming into the wall, right beside an empty prison cell. Dól then gave a small smirk. "Looks like my aim is off. You should be trapped in a cell right now." Dól began laughing, only to have it halted by a hard punch to his jaw. He was sent tumbling off to the side, quickly hopping back up as he slid to a stop. He growled as PantherLily stood in a boxer's stance, glaring at the purple headed assistant warden. "How did you escape my serpent?" He sneered, rubbing his jaw.  
"He had help." Dól looked up with widened eyes. He didn't even notice nor hear the elevator come back down as he now had his eyes set on Nami, Rylo and the Twilight Zone ace, Evanee. Rylo then spoke once more as he turned to Gajeel. "Warden?"  
Gajeel shook his head. "Assistant."  
"In that case." Evanee interjected as she gave Rylo a tug of the sleeve. "Me and Rylo will go on ahead. Nami, you and Gajeel finish this guy off."  
Nami just gave a blank expression and nodded. "Hold on, who said you were getting by so easily!?" Dól asked, actually annoyed at Evanee's disrespect towards him. With his hammer in hand, he swung it down towards Evanee, but she caught it with her right palm. With the lightning sparking around her, Evanee didn't any sign of wincing whatsoever. "Okay, I tried to give you a chance to fight." Evanee nodded once. And then went for a leg sweep, knocking Dól off his face and onto his back. She then raised her right leg and slammed it into Dól's sternum forcefully, easily shattering the armor around his torso. She then stepped on and then over him as she continued walking. "Come on Rylo, lets free whoever's down here." Rylo nodded. "Right.." He than ran to catch up with the ace as Gajeel gawked on in a mixture of admiration and fear. "She did that so easily..." By the time he came to his senses, Rylo and Evanee have already turned the corner, leaving him with just Nami. "Hey, you ready?" The light mage Nami asked him. "...Yeah." Gajeel replied. The two mages and exceeds then begin jogging forward. Before they could pass Dól whoever, his eyes snapped open. The assistant warden grabbed them both by the ankles, and magic seals formed from both of his hands. Before Nami and Gajeel could react, their ankles were cuffed together. "What's this!?" Gajeel yelled. Dól made his way to his feet as Nami and Gajeel desperately try to pull the cuffs of their ankle. "Heh...now you have no magic and you're cuffed together." He began laughing, only to stop once he noticed Lily in his. Peripheral. Lily threw a punch, but Dól ducked it, and slammed a powerful uppercut to his abdomen, causing the exceed to hunch over as Charla watched in horror. "We don't have a choice." Nami looked up at Gajeel as he spoke. "We're gonna have to fight him with no magic."  
"Yeah that's next to impossible!" Nami replied. "Hey! Lily! Use you sword to break this!"  
Lily slowly made his way to his feet, still holding his stomach from the blow. The only thing that separated him from his partner and Nami was Dól. Lily pulled out his sword, causing it to expand. "Like I'll let you reach them." Dól says as one his tattoos begin moving again. It forms into his right hand; a giant iron sphere connected to a long chain. Another tattoo from his neck begins to move. A fire tattoo makes it's way to the iron ball, now setting it on fire. Dól began swinging it around as he grinned towards Lily with a glare. "Well!? Come on then! Free your friends!"

Evanee and Rylo ran ahead. They had already turned the corner and sprinted down the hallway before Gajeel and Nami were caught by Dól. They turned the corner once more, only to be met by incoming guards. Evanee let out a frustrating groan. "No time for this. Stand back." Rylo nodded and had no time complying to the nymph mages demands. "Do your thing, Evanee-Senpai." Rylo said as he bowed sarcastically. "Tch." Evanee then side eyed the magician, quickly turning her attention back to the incoming guards. "Darkness Cage." Evanee creates and then crushes a darkness sphere in her hand, summoning several small masses of Darkness Magic which then grow and come together to create a sphere around the swarm of guards. They were now restrained as they all yelled out cries of pain simultaneously, eventually passing out from the immense pain. Evanee then dispelled the magic and walked ahead.  
"Ah darkness magic." Rylo says with a smirk. "How it hasn't consumed her yet I'll never know."  
"Shut up." Evanee says as she turns her head back to the magician. She continued walking as she glared at Rylo, and the distraction was enough. The second she turned around, a long chain was wrapped around her neck. "Evanee!" Rylo called out as she was whipped toward the culprit, the six and a half foot basement floor warden, Drail. He swung Evanee around, and then slammed her into the wall, creating a small crater against the wall as smoke and debris fly from the point of impact. Evanee was now on the floor, on her knees coughing as she tugged on the chain. The red bearded warden then conjured a magic seal. "I don't know how you got past my disciple, but it doesn't matter. I'll end it here." The magic seal he summoned created ice that traveled down the chain until it came into contact with Evanee herself. She quickly stood to charge at Drail, but the ice slowed her down tremendously, until she was frozen still. "Dammit!" Rylo quickly ran forward, and aimed a high towards Drail. It was to no avail as the warden whipped out another chain and quickly wrapped it around the magician's leading leg. He then whipped him into wall right next to the cell that Zalen and the others were imprisoned. "Huh? Zalen puts his face to the transparent cell wall, noticing Rylo and Evanee as Clover and Heather joined him. "Who are they?" Clover asked. "No idea." Zalen replied. "And it looks like it's not going to matter either..."  
With her magic aura fluctuating, Evanee finally shattered the ice that restricted her. She then grabbed the chain, and pulled Drail towards her. He jerked forward, but then quickly caught himself. "My my. Such strength for a girl." Drail pulled the chain again, lifting Evanee off her feet and into the ceiling, then the floor. Drail then whipped Rylo's chain, but was thrown off guard as he realized that he had broken loose. He looks around for the slight of hand mage. "Up here!" He yelled. Drail looked up to see the magician point his top hat towards him. A magic seal appeared, and then a funnel of fire hurls towards the warden in a spiral. Drail lifts his loose chain above his head and spins it, easily deflecting Rylo's fire away. He then fires his chain towards the ceiling, leaving a small hole as Rylo quickly leaps away to evade. "This..stupid..chain!" Evanee rose to her feet again, growling as she finally began to make some leeway on the chain around her neck. Drail still managed to smirk however. "It's been a while since I've had some fun." He then yanked Evanee's chain, pulling it off of her neck. He swung the two chains by his side as he looked at them both. "I'll toy with you both for a bit longer."

.

"Look, there's stairs just beyond these guards!" Erza yells as she leads the group forward. "There's also another hallway we haven't been through yet!" Laxus adds.  
"We'll split up once we get there!" Gray adds as he comes to a sliding stop. "Ice make: Floor!" He slammed his palms into the ground, creating an icy floor that caused the guards to slide uncontrollably. "I got it." Taya states as she conjures up five of her dark vectors. The vectors rush towards and into the skating guards, slamming them each and every way, some into the walls while the others the ceiling and floor. The group continues to run full speed as they near the stairs. "I'm taking the stairs!" Takeru yelled out. "Might as well make it White Eclipse then!" Taya replied as she followed Takeru. "Right! Fairy Tail, this way!" Erza yelled as she ran past the stairwell with Laxus, Gray and Juvia right behind them.

Takeru grabs the rail and begins running up the stairs, but it was only halfway he climbed before a giant fist came crashing into his sternum, pushing him back into the ascending Taya and Kairi. The three mages crash back down into the second floor, sitting down from the blow. They all make their way back up to their feet, groaning in pain as Correll slowly makes his way down the last few steps. "Sorry, too many people on the stairs at once." He grinned, and ran his hand through his blonde hair. He then looked over towards Kairi, who angrily glared back towards him while dusting herself off. "Oh, hey there angel. No hard feelings, just doing my job."  
"We can all three take him easily." Tak stated as he fixed himself. "No." Tak looked back towards Kairi, who kept her glare on the third council captain. "You two go and help Reve. I'm sure the idiot's in trouble. I'll take him on. I'll catch up shortly."  
Correll began laughing. "You know what? Sure, go ahead. You two can go, because you'll all be captured sooner or later."  
"Be careful Kairi.." Taya nodded as her and Takeru slide by Correll, and sprint up the stairs. Correll and Kairi continue their standoff. The blonde haired captain smirking while Kairi glared with hatred. "You're in the way." The takeover mage stated. "Yeah no shit." Correll replied as he slid his council jacket off. "Now I must warn you, I'm nothing like what you remember half a year ago. So I apologize for any injuries you'll soon sustain."  
"Shut up." Kairi's reply was short and sour as her hair begins to waver. In mere seconds a magic seal appears under her as her transformation takes place. She now stood in her angel takeover: Angel Soul: Uriel. Kairi now stood in a fitted, gold romper suit. Her hair was released from its usual pony and grows past her back, becoming much wavier. Her bangs also increased in length and circled around the top of her head, creating a halo-like head band. The boots she wore were ankle-length and white. large, feathered wings from her back. "It never gets old, seeing such a lovely sight." Correll grinned as he held his fist up in his patented boxer stance. "Now then, lets go!"

Erza, Laxus, Gray, And Juvia continued running down the hallway. The closer they got, the louder his voice was. "No way." Gray says he runs beside Juvia. "Some things never change." Laxus added as he shook his head. Erza merely smiles. "Natsu-San is up ahead? That must mean Lucy is with him!" Juvia added.  
With a loud yell, Natsu crashed his fist into the ground, just missing White who somehow disappeared into the completely white room. "Darnit! I just had him!" The Salamander sneers as he looks around, searching for the two assistant wardens. Lucy held a key in her hand, waiting for the right moment to summon her spirit. "They're hiding, but how is the black one able to in this white room?" As she asked her question to herself, Black appeared behind her l, and Lucy turned right into a bunch of knuckle shaped shadows, landing against her ribs and sending her off her feet. "Lucy!" Natsu began running towards the visible Black, only to have a blinding white light corrupt his vision temporarily. He covered his eyes in pain, and right beside him, White appeared. White then slammed a hard high kick to Natsu's jaw, causing him to lift into the air and then crash into the ground, rolling away. Natsu quickly hopped up, but his vision was only slowly coming back to him. "You're useless against us when White's magic is in effect!"  
"Oh Black, you're too kind." The two assistant wardens stood next to each other, chuckling as they watched Natsu rub his eyes free of the blurry vision, along with Lucy finally making her way back to her feet. They were about to begin attacking again, but as White ran forward, out of nowhere, Erza cuts him off with a horizontal slash of her sword. The blade leaves a gash right across White's chest, causing him to grip his sternum as he falls to a knee. "White!" Black yelled. Due to the heavy damage he took, the room White created began to phase in and out, showing the exit in the process. "Natsu!" Erza called to him. Natsu looked up, just making out the scarlet haired mage and the others that have just arrived. Erza points her sword to the exit. "You and Lucy go ahead. We'll wrap things up here!"  
Lucy grabs Natsu by the arm and pulls her towards the exit, quickly leaving. Snarling in anger, Black and White turn back to the four mages that stood in their way. "No matter! You'll all go down eventually!" White yelled as the palm holding his chest began to glow white. Slowly, his wound began to close. "He's healing himself." Gray pointed out. Black stepped in front of White, and began to slowly lift his hands upward. Now, instead of the pure white room, it's was now pitch black. "You thought your numbers were going to get the best of us." Black stated. "But you can't hit, what you cannot see!" White finished. They both then yelled in unison. "You'll never escape the stronghold!"

"Levy! Wendy!" Natsu yelled as he, Happy and Lucy continued down the hallway, now free from guards and the assistants. They sprinted down as now Lucy began calling for them. "Wendy! Levy!"  
"Natsu!" Levy's voice rung through the empty halls. "Levy!" Natsu ran ahead, turning the last corner to the prison cells. "Natsu wait!" Lucy yelled for The Salamander, but it was too late, his mind was made up as she tried her best to catch up.  
Ahead, Natsu ran down the last hallway, until he saw a figure standing at the end, and Levy and Wendy inside their cells. "Natsu! Be careful!" Wendy yelled, but Natsu was coming in too fast. "Release my friends!" The dragon slayer yelled as he reared back a fiery right fist. Valry stood with a smirk on her face, and as Natsu swung, she simply swayed out the way. As Natsu went flying by, Valry wrapped her whip around his neck, and slung him into the ground. She then pulled him along the ground violently, and then flung him...right into the same prison cell Levy and Wendy were placed in.  
"..." Cobra blinked, and then slapped a palm against his own face. "How anticlimactic! I was expecting a fight!"  
"What did I tell you Erik!?" Valry exclaimed as she laughed. "This is my domain."  
"What did I tell you about that name!?" Cobra barked back. In the cell, Natsu sat up, rubbing his head. "Huh? Levy...Wendy.."  
"It's okay Natsu!" Wendy says as she helps him up. "Good try!" As Natsu stood up, a body towered over him. He turned around to see Zero standing right behind him. He grinned. "Remember me? We should see how you are without that Dragon Slaying magic of yours."  
Natsu stood firm, chest to chest with Zero as the "Brain" of Oracion Seis grinned wickedly.  
Back outside, Lucy came around the corner with Happy. "Natsu!" Happy yelled out. "Happy!" Natsu called back, now banging on the cell wall. "Natsu how did you get captured already!?"  
"Don't ask that just get me out!"  
"But we were right behind you! How did you lose so fast!"  
"I tripped!"  
"That's a lie Natsu!"  
"Shut up!" Cobra yelled. "Your yelling is annoying! Look, girl! There's a switch behind the warden! You're our...your friends only hope of getting out! Press that button!"  
"Ha! Like she'll ever get past me to do so!" Valry adds as she whips the ground once.  
"A whip huh?" Lucy pulls out her own whip that Virgo gave her a long time ago. It flowed to the ground as she stood off with Valry. "This isn't good. I have to free Levy and Wendy, but if I do that, Oracion Seis will be released too. What do I do? It doesn't even matter if I beat her...I'll still have to do it." Lucy wrestled with her thoughts, almost long enough for Valry to get a clean hit before she just barely dove out the way. "This is going to be too easy! Come on blondie! See if you can get past me!"

.

"Twenty five minutes and counting Skye. Twenty five." Siegrain grinned as he leaned towards Skye. "Anything you wanna say? You're running out of time to speak."  
Skye kept her head lowered. "Reve... I know he'll be here.."

As Skye's thoughts ran through her mind, the gunslinger was busy fighting off the entertainment trio. He took aim with the now two celestial pistols in his hand, and fired towards the three as they steadily evaded. Sully came to a sliding stop, and as he extended his arm, he fired off when of his levitating spheres. The sphere hurled towards Reve, turning into ice in the process. Reve rolled out the way and as the ice sphere hit the floor, it created a small radius of ice, yet the sphere itself reappeared hovering over Sully once again. Reve took aim again, but before he could fire, Vivy appeared behind him and with a magic seal that she reached through, her arm expanding in a rubbery style, wrapping around his feet. She then lifted Reve and swung him around, finally letting go as Reve was hurled a bit down the hallway until he crashed into the ground. "Ugh..I don't have time for this!" Reve punched the ground, leaving a crack in it as he stood back up. His two pistols vanished as he requipped his patented magnum into his hands. "Get, out of the way!" Reve then fired the massive blast towards the entertainment trio. Unconcerned, Wallace stepped toward the incoming blast, and turned to his comrades. He acted out a charade, as if he was looking in a mirror. With less than a second to spare, he then stepped around the now invisible mirror with the other two. The magnum blast slammed into what seemed like nothing, and quickly hurled back towards Reve. Completely off guard, Reve froze with wide eyes. His own blast then slammed into his sternum, lifting him off his feet and onto the ground, spine first as he now floated in and out of consciousness. Sully then began laughing his patented goofy laugh. "That was a powerful blast there! Too bad it wasn't good enough against Wallace!"  
"And that's what happens when you mess with the Entertainment Trio!" Vivy says with a laugh of her own. Wally feigns a frown as Sully pats him on the back. "I know Wallace, he didn't put up much of a fight. I'm a little upset to. Come on, lets throw him in a cell."  
The three councilmen began walking towards the gunslinger. Reve laid there with a blurry sight as they towered over him.

"Skye...

I'm coming..."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Miracle in the Room of Echoes! The Pride of an Ace!

{Flashback.}  
"You're not leaving again are you?"  
Reve was sitting on the couch in the main room of the White Eclipse guild. It was a few days after the apocalypse, and he's yet to really speak to anyone after returning. "Huh?" He looked up to see Skye standing over him with the utmost concern. Reve sighed, and then averted his eyes back to the scene that was the banter going on between the other mages in the guild. Before he could reply, Skye spoke again. "Nii-San..."  
"I don't know yet, Skye." Reve answered. "Even after all the training I went through, I was barely any help at all against Zeref and Acnologia."  
"But you defeated one of the generals!" Skye interrupted. She hopped over the couch, facing the gunslinger now to make sure she had his attention. "Stay here and train if you have to! Just don't leave again.." Reve turned his gaze Skye, who seemed to be on the verge of crying. He then gave her a wave of surrender. "Hey hey...don't do that. I'm not going anywhere." Like a switch, Skye's expression quickly went from a sad to an ecstatic one. She then frowned once more. "Oh, and sorry..."  
Reve arched a brow. "Sorry? For...?"  
"I never got to really apologize, for holding you back during the games. I lost against Erza. If I would of won, we would of been champions. So sorry Nik-San."  
Reve blinked, and then patted Skye on the head with a smile. "It's not a big deal. And besides, you took her to the edge, which showed your potential. And since /we'll/ be training here now, we'll draw out that potential of yours." With a joyous expression, Skye hugged Reve, tightly embracing him in happiness. Reve sat there in a bit of shock as she did so. "Thank you, Nii-San!"  
"Gah..." Reve kept his hands above her, still not used to Skye's sisterly affection. "Why do you call me that..?"  
{End FlashBack}

"Skye.."  
"Alright, left him up and slap the cuffs on him." Sully says as Wallace was already in the midst of doing so. Wallace held Reve by the wrist, but before he could grab his cuffs, Reve twisted his own arm to grab the mute's wrist. He then shifted his weight and threw Wallace over his shoulder and into the opposing wall. Sully and Vivy watched their comrade hit the wall, only to turn back to two celestial pistols held against their head. With wide eyes, neither one of them moved. "Like I said..your magic isn't special." Reve stated. He then looked over towards Sully. "Levitation magic with elemental spheres." The gunslinger then turned to Vivy. "Rubber magic. And your mute friend over there know Arc of Embodiment, except you can't see what he makes. Big deal."  
Sully began to shake due to the barrel of the gun pushing against his head. "E-even so! You won't beat Bull if we let you go!"  
"Right!" Vivy added. "You won't get past the next floor with or without Bull!"  
"I don't have much time left, so I don't have time for your bluffs and threats. Say goodnight." Reve started to squeeze the trigger, but before he could, he was somehow taken off his feet. He fell to the ground, and looked up to see Wallace pull an invisible rope. He could feel it wrapped around his waist. He quickly stood, and began pulling back, but the distraction was all that was needed as Vivy stood behind the gunslinger. She placed both thumbs in her mouth and began to blow, expanding both of her hands into oversized palms. She then clapped her hands together, with Reve in the middle. The immense pain from the attack left him teetering. Sully then came around, and with another forward thrust of his palm, he fired another sphere, this one catching fire as it hurled and then slammed into Reve's chest. Clenching his chest, Reve hit the ground once again as the fire extinguished. The Entertainment Trio quickly swarmed around him. "I guess that was all talk!" Sully says as he laughs. "Screw cuffs, I'll stomp you into unconsciousness." Sully then lifted his right foot, but before he could slam the stomp to Reve's temple like he planned, a dark vector wrapped around his foot, holding him still as two more slam into his chest. Sully went tumbling away from Reve and the other two assistants. Wallace and Vivy turn around, right into a Shadow Dragon's roar, a direct hit that sent them both painfully flying away from Reve and on top of Sully as they all groaned in pain. Reve pushed himself up to his feet, now with the aid of Taya herself, yanking him up by his arm. "Idiot. Would you calm down?" She asked in her normal rude tone.  
"I don't have time to..." Reve replied, holding his burning sternum.  
"We have..."  
"Fifteen minutes." Takeru says, interrupting the S class gunslinger.  
"Okay, we're in a tight spot now.." Taya says sighing. "We all can't just run off, because they'll chase us, but I'm sure there's someone else on the next floor waiting on us once we get past these clowns." Reve took a step towards the way he was previously running. "I don't care about that.. I'm going ahead. Skye needs saving and we don't have time." "He's right you know." Takeru adds. "Reve should go ahead, and we'll clean these three up a lot faster."  
Taya lets out another aggravated groan. "Fine, see you on the roof cowboy. Try not to die." Reve didn't even nod, he was already down the hallway. Sully and the others made their way to their feet in the process. Sully, holding his right arm, turned the opposite way that Reve ran off to. "Boss! We have a problem! One of them ran off! He's headed to the next floor!"  
"I thought there was only one!?" A  
voice from the end of the hall echoed out. After a few seconds, loud footsteps could be heard coming towards them. "This could be a problem." Taya mumbled. Around the corner he came. He stood six feet twl inches. He was a little less than built with grayish black hair and brown eyes. He wore a red council uniform. "Bull..sir. We had him, but these two interrupted us and let him escape!"  
"Quiet Vivy." Bull replied. Bull continued walking, right past Taya and Tak who cautiously kept an eye on him. "I'll go get him, you three finish up here."  
"Should we let him go?" Takeru asked Taya. She nodded. "Four on two wouldn't be good. And besides, Reve can handle one guy." Sully and Vivy began laughing at Taya's comment, causing the dark vector mage to raise a brow. "What's so funny?" Taya asked. "That must be the first warden you ran into." Vivy replied. "Bull is way too strong for that guy. He couldn't get past us,  
And Bull would annihilate us easily. Plus they're headed to the Room of Echoes next? That's an easy win for a sound mage like Bull!"  
"Sound mage?"  
As Bull made his way to the stairs, beside the staircase was a rack with pairs of headphones. He picks up a pair, and slides them over his ears. Suddenly, the sounds of the council stronghold no longer existed as he climbed the stairs.  
Already in the room, Reve began running down the hall. He could only run so far until he became disoriented. At first, his mind was seemingly clear, but then it hit him. He looked around at the design of the room, noticing the walls were shaped differently. Also, strange looking hollow speakers hung from the ceiling. Reve stopped completely, feeling lightheaded. He could hear a strange sound coming from his body. It took him a few seconds, but then he realized, he could hear his blood rushing. The sound was more than clear. Liquid being pushed through a small tunnel. His heartbeat was louder than anything he's ever heard before. He began to pant with widened eyes. He then turned to the right after hearing a loud whisper. "Heh. If it isn't the gunslinger..."

.

Kairi goes sliding backwards, finally coming to a stop from her feet planted firmly into the ground. She charged Correll who stood cockily in his boxer's stance. Kairi began the exchange with a hard right fist that Correll dodged. She then continued with a flurry of fist that Correll simply parried or evaded. Correll would then duck an incoming left hook from the angel takeover, and with his golden glowing fist, he slammed a hard uppercut to the abdomen. Kairi bared her teeth as she grabbed her stomach from the blow. She kept her ground however, and then threw a high left kick to the blonde's head. Correll merely slapped it away, and through what looked like a normal right punch. Before contact, a light blue magic seal appeared, and as the fist ran through the seal, his fist was seemingly frozen as the fist slams into her jaw. Kairi was taken off her feet, tumbling into the ground before popping back up to a low crouch. She held her jaw, realizing that their was ice on it. She merely pulled the ice off as she glared towards the captain. Correll gave a shrug, never losing his cocky demeanor. "I tried to warn you. That's your strongest form right? I'm not even warmed up yet. I don't know what you've been doing since the apocalypse, but we council members were too busy with actual training." Correll's grin widened. He then raised his right fist, and slammed it into the stone floor. The impact caused a magic seal to appear under Kairi, following by a violent upbringing of the floor, creating a miniature mountainous region. The attack slammed Kairi against the ceiling before dispersing. She fell to the floor, back to her knees as she panted. "Fifteen minutes and you can't even get past me. You sure you want Skye to survive, angel?"  
Kairi's eyes widened, then narrowed again towards the captain. "...I'm going go murder you."

.

Lucy stood off with the second floor warden, Valry. Both of them with their whips in their hands. "Lets go Lucy!" Natsu yelled. "Quiet!" Valry barked towards the dragon slayer, causing her to take her eyes off of Lucy. "Now!" Lucy yelled as she lifted a key into the air. "Virgo!" After the bright light that emitted from the key disappeared, a hole appeared under Valry, causing her to fall to the first floor. Virgo pops out and bows. "Time for punishment, princess?" "Now's your chance!" Cobra yelled. "I have no choice!" Lucy said to herself, she then sprinted towards the switch that was once behind Valry. She ran, then jumped over the hole that Virgo created, or at least attempted to. Halfway through her jump, just over the whole, Valry's whip wrapped around her ankle. Valry then yanked Lucy through the hole in the floor, slamming her into the concrete floor of the first level. "Lucy!" Wendy and Levy called out in unison. No one could see what was going on from their view. No one except Virgo, who peered into the hole to see what was going on. "Do you need help princess?" The celestial spirit asked. Lucy struggled her way to her feet, finally coming back to a stance as she grinned. "Virgo, flip the switch on the wall!" Lucy yelled to the maid. "What!? Oh no you don't!" Valry swung her whip towards the spirit who was making her way to the switch, but Lucy cuts her off by entangling Valry's whip with her's. Lucy grinned as she started pulling the entangled whips towards her. "You're in a world of trouble now!"  
"No you are!" Valry replied. "You don't know what you're doing!" "Yeah I do! I'm freeing my friends!" As Lucy yelled her response, Virgo flipped the switch, the walls eventually dispersing. Natsu, Levy and Wendy stepped out of the cell. Natsu held an excited grin on his face. "Now I'm gonna kick that girls a-"  
"Dark Capriccio!" The words, caught Natsu's ears, and he turned...right into the incoming drill off magic. He barely had time to defend himself as he sacrificed his arms to save his heart, placing them in an X formation to cushion the attack. The Dark Capriccio lifted Natsu in the air, crashing him into the ceiling. He then fell to the ground, holding himself in pain. "Natsu!" Levy and Wendy began running towards The Salamander, Racer appeared in a blur with a quick kick to both of their backs, causing them to tumble towards and then on top of Natsu. Cobra, Angel, Midnight and Hoteye slowly walked out of their cells, all of them but Hoteye grinning as Oracion Seis now stood together once again. Natsu, Wendy and Levy stood up, facing the six. Natsu stood in front of the two females, baring his teeth at Zero and the others. "What a fool that girl and her spirits are." Cobra says with his toothy grin.  
"All for a boy." Angel adds. "It's a shame for her. Now we're free."  
"And our first act as Oracion Seis.." Zero glared towards the three mages. "Take out the one who put us here!"

It was completely quiet in the pitch black room. Erza and the others stood waiting, focused. They couldn't be seen, but their eyes shifted left to right repeatedly, trying to spot even the slightest hint of Black and White, the second floor Assistant Wardens. What seemed like minutes went by, until finally, a white magic seal appeared above the lot of mages. It then began raining beams of light magic, the only source of light a violent one. "Heads up!" Gray yelled, and all at once, with little time to spare, they all cover their heads; sounds of groaning and grunting in pain could be heard until the light rain finally stopped. "That's it.." Laxus sneered. He then began to surge his own lightning magic around him, causing a small radius of light within the room. "Don't hide you cowards. Fight us!"  
Black's voice could be heard, laughing. The laughter sounded like an echo within the pitch blackness. Suddenly, a wave of shadows forms over, and consumes Laxus, causing his lightning to stop. "Laxus!" Gray began running towards the last place he saw the Dragon Slayer, only to stop as a white magic seal appeared before him. Out of the circle, four white fists slam into him, lifting him off his feet from the impact. He falls to his back, groaning in pain. As he looked up, another white magic circle hovered over him. "Hey." White says with a smile. Gray desperately covers up as another barrage of beams rain down on Gray Fullbuster from such a close range. "Gray-Sama!" Juvia attempts to run towards Gray and the only light source in the room, but before taking her first step, she felt a tug on her ankle. She looked down, but of course she could see anything. She could feel it though. She felt her magic completely shut down. She reached down to her ankle, and felt the magic sealing cuffs around them. "Two on two now." Black says from an undisclosed location. As Gray continues to take a beating from White, who was standing on his magic seal, out nowhere, Erza flies by, swinging a horizontal swipe of her sword. The blur she ran by in was evidence that she was in her flight armor. She disappeared into the darkness as White stopped his attack on Gray. White fell to a knee, muffling a scream of pain as he tried to reach for a spot on his back. "You'll pay for that!" White yelled as he disappeared once again. "Gray!" Erza yelled as the ice maker rose to his feet. "Keep your guard up! It's just me and you now!"  
"Right!" Gray stood in his ice make stance, waiting anxiously yet focused. "Come on you cowards.."

.

"Any ideas?" Rylo asked his SS class guild mate. The two mages stood against with Drail as the warden continued to swing his chains. "Just one." Evanee says with a smirk. "Will you do what I say?"  
"Heh..it sounds like you have something good Evanee. What is it?" Rylo asks as he nods to her request.  
"...See that elevator behind him? The buttons on it show that it makes it to the top floor. Take it there."  
"What!?" Rylo turns to Evanee in shock. "I'm not gonna let you take this guy alone!" Evanee kept her grin, not taking her eyes off of Drail. "You said you'd listen, and quite frankly, you should know better than to disobey your ace at times like this by now, Ry."  
Rylo scowled, narrowing his eyes towards Evanee. "You don't have to do /everything/ alone, Evanee. It's your worst habit."  
"Just shut up and go!" Evanee stepped back. "We're running out of time, so save your lecture Rylo and follow what I said."  
Rylo hesitated for a few seconds, and then placed a palm on the ground, creating a magic seal. The seal ran through him, turning him completely invisible. "Huh!?" Drail began looking around frantically, only to hear the elevator coming down. "No you don't!" He turned and reared back his right arm to throw the chain, but Evanee grabs the link before he could throw it forward. "I'm over here. It's me and you." She said with the excited grin on her face. Drail looked back at Evanee, just long enough for when he turned back to the elevator, it was already heading upward. Angered, Drail turned his attention back to Evanee, and attempted to yank his chain with her on it last time. This time however, Evanee stood her ground. A black aura began to swarm around her as she stared at the warden. Drail took a step back confused.  
"I know she was holding back." Zalen, Heather, and Clover both turn around to the man who was standing against the wall the entire time. He was silent until now. He took a few steps closer to get a better view, coming into the light to reveal himself as Makarov. "Master Makarov." Zalen says, blinking. "I didn't think you were ever gonna speak." Heather added. Makarov merely nodded as he kept his attention on the fight. "Where did this strength come from!?" Drail asked, a panicky tone in his voice. Evanee pulled on the chain in her hand, causing Drail to slide a good bit forward. "He's been working too hard to surpass me." Evanee says as she yanks the chain again, once again causing Drail to slide forward. "I didn't want to embarrass him, by showing him my true strength. We could of beaten you together, but as an ace...I have too much pride to take a beating from someone weaker than me!" Evanee's words caught Drail off guard, and with another yank, Drail was off his feet. Evanee swung the chain around, hoisting Drail in the air in the process. She then let go, slinging the warden against the far wall. With Drail out for a moment, Evanee ran to the opposite wall, and flipped the switch, eventually dissipating the cell wall that held White Eclipse and Makarov captive. "I won't tell you what to do, Master of Fairy Tail, but you three, quickly, get out."  
Makarov nodded to Evanee's words. "You want this fight. If you don't want to fight with your own guild mate, there's no reason for us to try and help."  
"Say no more!" Zalen says as he begins running down the hall and turning. Heather and Clover shrug, and follow them, with Makarov bringing up the rear with a slow walk. "Siegrain..." Makarov sneers to himself. "I'm sure you're breaking so many laws yourself..this won't go unpunished."  
As the others left, Evanee began walking towards Drail, who just began making his way out of the rubble his body caused. The anger on his face was only matched by the tone his voice. "You're going to pay for such insolence! Do you know who I am!? I'm going to devour you!" Evanee continued to walk, disregarding the blind anger that Drail spat out. Drail swung and then fired both of chain lengths, wrapping them around Evanee's arms. Magic circles then appeared at the ends of them. Evanee looked at them both with an emotionless expression. "You better make it count." Spouted the ace of Twilight Zone. "I'll make it count alright!" Drail yelled back. From the magic circles, bolts of lightning trailed down the chains, all the way to Evanee. The electricity ran through Evanee, causing her to wince. Once she regained herself, she looked up at Drail as the lightning kept flowing. Evanee gave the warden a cocky grin, causing him to raise a brow in confusion. She held her ground, showing the lightning to be less than effective. Evanee then drew in a deep breath, concentrating magic into her mouth. She then lurched her head forward, and unleashed a devastating torrent of Underworldly magic towards Drail. His eyes widened in horror. "She tricked me! She wanted to be caught! I-"

As Zalen and the others ran forward, they nearly lost their balance from the explosion behind them. "What was that!?" Clover asked, looking back. "Ignore it, Heather stated. "I'm sure it was that girl that saved us. Following Heather's command, Clover continued running with the others. Finally, they turned another corner, noticing Gajeel and Nami standing across from Dól and a beaten up Pantherlily. Dól's eyes widened. "Huh!? How did you get free!?" The lieutenant asked. "Zalen, Heather! Clover!" Nami shouted in joy to see them. Gajeel and the two exceeds gave a look of disappointment. "So they're not down here.." Charla said with worry in her voice. The three mages surround Dól quickly, ready to strike. "We defeated your wimp of a warden!" Zalen bluffed. "Give up or suffer the same fate!" Clover added. Dól slowly lifted his hands in the air as a sign of surrender. "Tch...it doesn't matter. More guards will be here soon. You're just delaying the inevitable."  
As Dól spoke, two iron pillars shot from the ground from Zalen's magic seal. They wrapped around Dól's arms, forcing him to lay face down on the ground. By this time, Heather broke off the cuffs around Nami and Gajeel's ankle. Nami happily hugs her afterward. "I'm glad you guys are okay!" The light mage exclaimed. "Okay, okay. Lets just get going." Heather replied.

.

"Hokori..."  
Reve peered into the cell. The voice that called out to him was now identified. Silent Sanctum's takeover mage, Hokori stood imprisoned, standing in front of the cell wall as he grinned towards the gunslinger. Reve then turned around to the opposite cell, noticing a snicker coming from it. It was Byron, with Myou sitting down across from him. The Silent Sanctum mages occupied this floor. "I thought you guys were dead? Tartaros exploded with you guys in it I heard. I-"  
"Yeah we can't hear anything you're saying, gunslinger." Hokori interrupted. Reve raised a brow, his blue eyes narrowing to the warrior takeover mage. "You're in the room of echoes, which is why I'm whispering to you. It's a mixture of Earthland's quietest room, and the most amplified. You see gunslinger, I'm sure you heard it by now, but it's so quiet in this room, you can hear your blood flow, and your heart beat. Makes you feel dizzy right? I could yell, and the vibrations of this room would cause your ears to bleed from the mix of the echoes. Yet, when no sound is being made, it's so quiet in here, that you need earplugs to block the silence. Ironic huh? Everyone in here have on earplugs, and I can tell that you don't. You did beat Bull before coming up here right?"  
Reve slowly shook his head no. Hokori then held in a laugh. "Then whatever you're up to, ends here. This is Bull's room dummy. He's a sound mage. One yell from him, and you'll be on the brink of death."  
Reve then steps to the cell wall. "Then where's the exit!" He yelled, and as he did, the echoes against the walls and hanging hollow speakers amplified, making a loud screeching noise. Reve covered his hands in immense pain, hunching over from the pain itself. "Idiot, do you listen? I said I can't hear you, and I just explained this room to you. But I'm sure you're looking for the exit up right?" Still wincing from the screeching noise he caused, Reve nodded his head. Hokori then began to lift his arm. "Well then, it's over.." He then turned his arm to flip Reve off. He stifled his laughter as Reve glared with immense anger towards the takeover mage. "You know..." Reve whispered. "Magic can reach inside of a cell, it's just useless once in there." Reve then equipped his magnum gun, and slowly lifted his hand to point it towards a now wide eyed Hokori, but before he could fire, the entire room began to vibrate. Suddenly, a loud noise was heard. Hokori began to grin again. "Cover your ears if you wanna live." He said with in a sadistic tone. Reve stared blankly at first, and then quickly did what he said as he was lifted off of his feet from the force of a sound wave that came from the staircase. He landed on his back, still holding his hands against his ears as he looked up. He could see Bull's shadow coming around the corner, so he quickly stood up. "I'm gonna have to foot back..but if I remove my hands, I'll be finished..." He looked up at the lone clock on the wall. "Five minutes...!" Reve began taking in deep breathes as Bull's shadow crept around the corner. Bull then showed himself, standing across from the gunslinger. "Hm..so you're gonna fight me with your hands to your ears?" The warden asked. "You'll certainly lose. It's a shame. You made it so far, just to be defeated by a room."  
Reve began to pant a bit more, due to the anxiety. He knew he had no choice. "Take my ears, I don't care." Bull raised a brow as Reve slowly removed his hands from his ears, placing them on his magnum. "I have a sister to save..."  
Bull grinned. The warden summoned a magic circle just in front of his mouth. "So be it, but it'll be more than your sense of hearing that'll I'll be taking, this floor is on death row, so I'll be taking your life as WELL!" When bull exclaimed the word "well," five visible yet massive sound rings hurled towards Reve. He held his ground. He closed his eyes as he began to focus his magic energy. His celestial magnum began to glow in one chamber. "One shot...everything I have." He took aim towards Bull and the incoming rings, already feeling the amplification start.  
Reve then squeezed the trigger.

"Bang..."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Inches Away.

Rizu groaned in annoyance. "Looks like I have to go get ready." He stood up, and turned to Odin and Layanna who were standing behind him. "You two, with the capture team outside, I need you both to go handle the Oracion seis with Valry. She may have a bit of an issue with Fairy Tail down there as well." Odin shrugged, but nodded as well. "Because if they were to escape the stronghold, then it would actually be our problem." Odin grinned to his own words as he began walking out with the silent Layanna. Rizu turned back to the monitors, giving them a look over one more time before walking out the other way. A small grin etched upon his face. Before he walked out, he pressed a button, causing his voice to project over an intercom. "Okay stronghold members, fun is over. It's time to take down the intruders." He then walked out, walking down the hallway until he reached the door to another room. "He may have beaten Bull, but he has no magic left. This is up my alley. Playing with my victims."

Siegrain stood from his chair. The second he did, two council guards ran over, picked up the chair, and ran off. He then looked over to another guard, signaling him to activate he lacrima screen. While the guard prepared it, Siegrain turned to Skye once more with a smirk. "Five minutes and counting. Where's your so called brother? Do you still have that faith in him like you did an hour ago? Lets here you answer Skye. Do you still believe in your guild mates, even though they're still struggling to defeat one of my wardens?"  
Skye kept her head lowered. Her brown bangs covered her eyes, creating a shadow over them. From the shadowed area, tears began to fall, slowly. Drop by drop they fell as sniffling came from the sword requip mage. This sound caused Siegrain to grin. "I still believe in them..."  
Skye's words quickly wiped the grin from Siegrain's face. "What?"  
"I...I still believe in them..!" Skye yelled, lifting her head towards the Bluenette. "The last few minutes are the longest! Five minutes is more than enough time for them to make it! For someone to..."  
Siegrain stood in front of her, a disgusted look upon his face as he glared towards her. He then grabbed Skye by her jaw with his right hand as he crouched down to her level, squeezing down on her jaw as he sneered. "You foolish guild mages are all the same. It's always 'believing in this,' and 'family first that.' You all are just copies of each other, produced by that filth of a guild that started it all. Fairy Tail!" He then pushed her face away as he stood back up. Skye continued to hold in her cries as her tears fell. Siegrain then turned to the appearing screen, completely changing his demeanor as the cities of Fiore appeared in front of him. As if they were counting the minutes the whole time, plenty of people from each city were all waiting on their streets in bunches, cheering as the "Hero of EarthLand" appeared on screen. "Ladies and gentlemen! We are mere minutes away from a rightful execution, and the dawn of a new era in Fiore, and even EarthLand itself!" Seigrain gave a smug ear to ear smile as the motions of people cheering caught his eyes. "In exactly..three and a half minutes, you will all witness pure magic being turned into lacrima! How excited are you!?"  
Behind him, Skye lowered her head once more to hide her face and the continuous fall of her tears from the public. "R-Reve... Kairi...anyone." She whispered to herself in her shaky voice. Off to the right, Lahar, Doranbolt and Ultear appeared on the roof. Lahar couldn't help but stare at Skye and her disposition, quietly clenching his right hand as he watched her. "Justice right?" Lahar turned to Doranbolt, who stood with his arms folded. Doranbolt turned to Lahar as well and repeated himself. "Justice, right? Remember why we've reunited long ago, because no matter how the rules change, we're needed here to make sure nothing is out of hand; to make sure that it's justice being served, and not selfishness by a single ruler."  
Lahar nodded to Doranbolt's words. He then turned back to Skye. "But I can't tell if this is justice or selfishness. If it is selfishness, he's disguised it so well.."

.

"He laid on the floor, panting. His blurry vision slowly started to fix as he could hear a loud ringing in his ears. As Reve laid there, Hokori, Byron and Myou all looked on in shock as Bull laid in front of them, white eyed and unconscious, near death really. They witnessed the entire exchange. "My gods.." Hokori whispered as he looked over at Reve. "That was everything he had, and pending on how much he's been through to get up here...he's gotten a lot stronger since I last saw him."  
"Holy smokes.." Byron blinked excessively, as if trying to wake up from what he saw. "That was unreal..Bull is out."  
Reve finally struggled his way up to his feet. He looked up, noticing a ladder that lead up to the next floor, and he began slowly climbing it, wincing with every step. His torn clothes and visible bruises all caused by the third floor warden's sound waves. Hokori and the others watched him scale the ladder, and push the hatch open. He climbed through, the hatch closing behind him. He began wincing in immense pain again, but fought through it as he forced himself up once more. He looked around, noticing his surroundings. "What is this? A garden?" He continued to look about at the room. It was filled with trees and other flora. He continued looking around until his eyes made their way straight ahead, noticing Rizu standing in front of two a glass door. Reve's eyes widen, because behind the door, he could see Skye, sitting in the chair. "Skye!"  
Her head pops up as her ears perk. Slowly she turns her head as far to the right as she could, a smile etching across her face. There she could just see him. "Reve!"  
Siegrain turned as well. Internally taken back, he grinned. "Well well, with minutes to spare, big brother Reve is one warden away from saving you. How did that shit do it?"  
"Persistent little mage." Ultear says as she watches the two inside.  
"Reve Volver of White Eclipse." Rizu grins as he tips his hat. "I've been watching you, and I must say I'm highly impressed. You've made it all the way up here. I mean, you had help from your comrades, but you're here nonetheless."  
Reve begins limping forward, as if Rizu wasn't even there as he made his way to the door. Rizu raised a brow, and then began to grin again. "Oh this is too good." The blue haired head warden says as he allows Reve to walk towards him. Reve tries to walk past him, but instead, Rizu places a palm on his chest, and with his surprisingly immense strength, pushes him all the way back to the opposite wall with one shove. Reve's head bounces off the wall, causing him to fall forward as he clutches the back of his head. "One minute." Siegrain says as he watches with a grin. He then turns back to the screen. "One minute!" He yells to the cities. He lifts his arms as if he's being praised, which he was. Back inside, just feet away from the door that led to Skye. Reve tried to make it past Rizu again. Once again, he merely pressed his hand against the gunslinger's chest. Reve nearly fell over, using Rizu's hand as a crutch. The Bluenette couldn't help but smirk. "It's useless." The head warden says in a condescending manner. "You have nothing left. We're only seconds away from justice." As Rizu held up the completely drained Reve, over to the right, a "ding" sound was heard. He looked over as the elevator began to open. "Hm? Did Odin and Layanna finish up already? No, it's probably Correll."  
The elevator doors opened, showing that no one was inside. "...Well that's peculiar. Oh well, back to-"  
Before Rizu could finish his statement, his head snaps to the side, causing him to release Reve. As he held the kick against Rizu's jaw, Rylo appeared, his camouflage leaving him as the head warden went flying into the wall. Barely conscious, Reve nearly fell over until Rylo caught him. "Hey! Not yet! We're almost there!" Rylo shouted. He held Reve's face up towards Skye. Now standing in between him and Skye was Ultear, Lahar, and Doranbolt. "You see that, she's right there. I can't do this without. She's your guild member, and we have twenty seconds left! So get up!"

.

{Minutes before}  
Outside, the brawl continued, until the intercom announcement came on. Rizu's voice rang through the speakers.  
"Okay stronghold members, fun is over. It's time to take down the intruders."  
Cal and Trace both stopped what they were doing to take in the announcement. They then turned to the mass of guards scattered around. Trace then began to yell, his clones echoing the message. "Alright you useless shits! You heard Rizu! Take the handicap off and pull out the cuffs! Bring them in!"  
Luke, after performing another ice make technique to another guard, turned to the shouting Trace. "What's he going on about?" As he looked back, his legs were quickly swept from under him by a random guard. He rolled away from him in a scramble, only to be tackled by another. With that guard on top of him, two more came around, and clamped magic sealing cuffs on him. "What!?" Luke was completely taken by surprise, as he was now cuffed and powerless. One of the guards shoved his face into the ground to keep him down. "Luke!" Kuro yelled. He began running towards his guild mate, only to be surrounded by a swarm of guards. "Their attacking in numbers, but with more precision!" Kuro's thoughts may have examined what was going on, but they also distracted him from what was going on as the guards bum rushed the fire make mage, not giving him a chance to perform a fire make technique. He punched a few guards in the face until he was finally taken over. A guard grabbed his right wrist and slapped the cuffs on him. He we was able to head butt him away, but the other guards held him down as they cuffed the red head.  
"Tch! They're swarming!" Alexander yelled. He began backing up from the ten guards rushing towards him, completely unguarded from behind as a council guard snuck up and slammed a staff to the back of his head. He fell face first, and found himself quickly cuffed.  
Mirajane and Ceaser looked around as their guild mates slowly began to become subdued by the council. "How are they?"  
"Sorry for playing around with you all." Cal says with a grin. "But you know how Siegrain is." As Cal spoke, Mirajane noticed Lisanna being cornered by guards. Elfman was already attempting to fight them off, but within seconds he was captured, being brought down by a number of council guards. "Lisanna!" Mirajane took off, flying full speed towards her, only to be cut off by Cal himself. "Yo, Shorty!" Ceaser yelled, but it was too late. With a golden glowing right hand, Cal grabs Mirajane by her wing, and within seconds, she was turned to solid gold, crashing into the ground.  
Jack was still trying to fight off Trace, the clone mage, and slowly he was losing ground due to the numbers. He ducked a kick from the Trace behind him, only to take a right hook to the jaw from the Trace to the left. That was all it took as the one to the right wrapped his arms around the drunk's sternum, lifted him, and slammed him into the ground. Then Trace from the front quickly slides in and cuffs the disoriented Jack Royal where he laid. "Now, with you out of the way." Trace says.  
"We can go round up the others." Cal finishes. He runs towards the readied Ceaser while Trace and his clones take off in different directions.

Gray stood in his ice make stance in the pitch darkness as the announcement was made. It caught his and Erza's attention, as well as Black and White's. The two lieutenant wardens started laughing once the announcement was over. "Stay alert!" Erza reminded Gray. "Right!" Gray replied. "You okay Erza? Erza?" She didn't answer. "Shit...!" He kept the space around him illuminated with his frosty aura as he looked around in a panic. Behind him, White slowly began to arise from nowhere, as if appearing out of a shadow. The last thing Gray saw was a blinding light in his face.

.

{Flashback}  
"Why do you call me that?" Reve asked Skye, causing her to let go of the hug she had on him. She sat back a bit as she gave the gunslinger a smile. "Because it's what you are to me! You and Kairi. You're the one who are there for me the most.."  
Reve arched a brow. "Oh. Well, it's not like I'm giving you special treatment. Every guild member is family in a way you know.."  
"It's not that." Skye replied. "It's just how I feel about it. Do you not want to be.."  
"I never said that." Reve says, causing Skye to smile again.  
"So you do want to be!"  
"I never said that either!"  
"Well which one is it!?"

"Nii-San!"  
Reve huffs. He then runs his hands through his hair. "Just know, that you're family to everyone here. And if you see me as your big brother, then so be it. I'll be the best big brother I can for you."  
Skye nods, returning an endearing smile. "I know you will! That's why you're it. You'll protect me when I need it right?"  
{End Flashback.}

"You'll protect me when I need it right?"  
Her words from that day rung through his head. Reve began standing on his own as he bared his teeth. "I'll always...protect you when you need it, Skye." He now stood up straight, scanning the situation before him. To his left, an extremely upset Rizu made his way to his feet, and in front of him, Lahar, Ultear and Doranbolt waited for him just in case. With fifteen seconds remaining, another ding was heard from the elevator. As soon as the doors opened...Evanee came charging out. "No way!" Rylo and Reve looked on in shock as Evanee bursted through the glass doors. "She beat that warden? That fast? We both were struggling just a minute ago..." Rylo continued to watch in a bit of shock as Evanee was cut off by Doranbolt who phased right in front of her. He threw a kick, but she grabbed his foot and slung him off to the side.  
"What are you waiting on!?" Evanee yelled. Reve and then Rylo snapped out of their trance, and immediately took off. "No you don't you pests!" Rizu conjured a magic circle under the running gunslinger, but before it activated, Rylo shoulder tackled the gunslinger out of it's radius, now becoming trapped in it himself as a plethora a vines wrapped around his arms and legs. Rylo was unable to move as Reve ran ahead without looking back. All while this was going on, Siegrain stood next to the switch with a grin on his face.  
"I'm a man of my word so...ten...nine..."

.

{Minutes before.}

Natsu, Wendy, and Levy stood off with Oracion Seis. Neither side made a move for a while. The grins on Oracion Seis's face were exact opposites to the sneers on Fairy Tail's. The grin on Cobra'a face however, quickly disappeared as his ears perked. "...We have company."  
"Hm?" Angel averted her eyes from her targets in front of her to look up and see Odin and Layanna walking towards them with a crowd of council guards behind them. "Shit..!" There's nowhere to go either!" Racer says. Zero huffs in frustration. As Odin and Layanna's squad covers the only exit. "Natsu!" Wendy calls out as she faces the council guards. Levy does the same as Natsu keeps his eyes on Zero and the others. Zero then begins to grin. "Well. We might as well get our fill in before we're put back in our cells right!?"  
"I heard that." Cobra responds as he crouches a bit. "That's fine." Angel adds as she creates a shining light within her hands, ready to attack.  
"Oi! You're speaking my language!" Natsu says as he pounds his fists together, creating fire around them both. "Lucy! You okay down there!?"  
Down below, Lucy and Valry stood off. Valry reached to her belt, and pulled out her magic sealing cuffs as she smirked. "I'm f-fine Natsu!" She said as she backed away from the council warden. Back on the second floor, Odin raised his hand. "...Bring them in!" He yelled as he and Layanna lead the charge towards Natsu and the others as well as Oracion Seis, beginning the struggle on the second floor.

.

"Eight...seven...six."  
Halfway there. Reve ran full speed past Evanee and the tossed aside Doranbolt. As Reve ran, Ultear appeared beside him, ready to toss one of her time orbs his way. As she reared back, Evanee appeared behind her with her own blinding speed. She then bent Ultear's wrist back and flipped her away from Reve. The normal flip was seen more like a throw due to her immense strength.  
"This is exciting! Five! Four! Three!" Seigrain counted down as the lacrima screen continued to show cheering civilians everywhere.

Back inside the stronghold, as Kairi crashes into the ground once again, the lacrima screen appears in the top corner. Out of breath and seemingly out of fight, she panted and looked up at the screen. She noticed Reve merely a foot away with seconds left. "Reve.. You better..!"  
Correll stopped as well to watch the screen. With a cocky grin, he slid his hands in his pockets as he stood a bit ways away from the heavily bruised angel takeover. Correll looked untouched, and the expression on his face signified it.

"We're not gonna make it!" Evanee says as Lahar ran towards Reve. She knew she had to take a risk. Instead of clearing a path to Skye for the gunslinger, she changed objectives. "The switch!"  
"Two..."  
In a blur, Evanee changed directions, planting her foot into the ground and lunged towards Siegrain and the machine. Siegrain was so asphyxiated on his watch, that he looked up in shock as he saw Evanee now an inch away from him. He stood wide eyed...until Evanee's hand was stopped short. There was a hand grasped tightly around her wrist. It was Rizu, standing with a grin. "Not today." He said with his usually confident demeanor. Evanee growled, and tried to quickly get him off by throwing a high right kick, yet Rizu grabbed the incoming leg, swept the other, and slammed the ace to the ground. Evanee was completely taken off guard due to her rushing...and she now found herself wearing a pair of magic sealing cuffs. Rizu looked back up at Siegrain as he kept his knee against Evanee's back. "Don't you have a switch to pull?"  
Reve ran right for Lahar. Lahar stood, waiting for the gunslinger to reach him, or close enough as Reve stepped on a certain spot. In a moment of adrenaline, Reve could feel the runes activate, and dove forward, just missing them. In one motion, he rolled past the box of runes that was about to capture him, and slammed a right fist into Lahar's jaw, knocking him off his feet as he fell forward himself due to all of his momentum. Reve quickly popped up. "Skye!"  
"Reve!" She called back, tears continuing to run down her face. Siegrain finally snapped out of how close Evanee was from destroying him. He then held his finger under the switch as he yelled out to Reve and Skye. "You're too slow gunslinger!" He then flipped the switch, causing a magic seal to appear under the sword requip mage and the chair. "No!" Reve kept running, and was now inches away from Skye's chair as she began to panic. Now less than an inch away, Reve vision became distorted...as he was tackled to the ground by Doranbolt. On the bottom of the two man pile, Reve threw a right punch towards Doranbolt, but he simply moved his head away, and slapped a magic sealing handcuff on Reve's wrist. With one arm still free, Reve used it to get up, and shoulder tackle Doranbolt to the ground. Doranbolt held on, and took him down with him. The magic circle under Skye began to spin and illuminate. "Reve! Reve help!" She cried out. Reve jumped up, and began running towards Skye, but Doranbolt grabbed his foot, tripping him up. He slammed face first into the ground, and to make it worse, the recovering Lahar came back in, helping Doranbolt pin the gunslinger down. "Get off me! Skye!"  
"Re-" Her call for her "big brother" turned into screams of the utmost pain as the magic circle engulfed the White Eclipse mage in a giant beam that fired upwards. "SKYE!" Reve tried to desperately claw out of the pin with his one free arm, but it was no use.

Back on the ground, everyone who wasn't part of the council watched in horror. Nearly everyone was cuffed or subdued. "Skye!" Kuro yelled out frantically. The council guards that had him yanked him back as he stared at the stronghold roof with everyone else. Alexander watched as well, noticing that Evanee was up there, being held down. "Is Evanee next!?"  
"Stop!" All of White Eclipse on the ground yelled in unison, desperately struggling against the council guards. "Let her go! Siegrain you bastard, quit it!" Jack yelled.  
"Skye!" Aira called out, tears slowly flowing, unsure what was even happening to her. All she could hear was her painful cries as the beam that engulfed her continued to entertain the ones watching on the lacrima screens.

"Skye! Skye...!" Reve's head was pushed into the floor of the roof as he helplessly watched and listened to her screams. Suddenly, her screams cut off. Reve waited in silence, unsure of what was happening. The beam of light was still going on, there was just no sound from Skye. Then seconds later, the giant beam stopped. Skye sat in the chair, face covered by her own hair. She sat, leaning over as if about to fall out of her chair, even though the restraints on her wouldn't allow her to. Everyone, including the people watching on the screens were quiet. Siegrain walked over to the chair, Reve watching his every move. He then stood next to the seated brunette and looked up to the sky. He narrowed his eyes, and then fully opened them once more. "Ah! Here it comes!"  
The bluenette then held his hand up to the sky. Slowly, a brownish colored lacrima stone floated down from the sky, and into his hands. Reve's eyes widened in disbelief. "Skye!? Skye talk to me! Say something to me Skye!"  
Siegrain began laughing as Reve called out to her. "She's dead, gunslinger."  
"No she isn't! No she..." Reve buried his head in the ground to shield his face from view as sniffling could be heard from him. "Skye wake up!"  
Siegrain turned back to the awaiting citizens of each town. He then held up the lacrima with his right hand, causing an uproar of cheers from every civilian watching.

"Welp! That's it for her! It's a pity, but life goes on. Just not her's!" Correll began laughing as he kept his hands in his pockets. Kairi kept her eyes on the screen. They were wide and blank. "Skye..." She muttered in disbelief and sadness. Disbelief that soon turned into anger. In the next second, a loud thump was heard coming from her chest. Then another. Correll was already walking away as he gave a dismissive wave, not noticing the small magic circle that appeared under Kairi. "I like ya, angel, so get out while you can before you're locked up okay?"  
"...Skye."

"This! This is what I was preaching about!" Siegrain yells as continues to hold the lacrima up in the air. "This piece of lacrima will be the beginning of a new era! The era where being a mage is no longer a gift, but a luxury! Now that we got that settled ladies and gentlemen.." He then turned back to Evanee Rylo and Reve, all being held down. "We have new pending criminals it seems. Right Erza Scarlet!?"  
At the sound of her name, both Black and White walked through the open doors that lead to the stronghold roof pushing the apprehended Titania forward each time. Black then kicked in the back of her legs, causing her to fall to her knees as Siegrain walked towards her. He then bent down with a grin as he gently held her by her chin. "It's a shame, Erza. I thought you would be the one to make it up here."  
Erza yanked her face away, scoffing. She then looked over towards the chair and the mage no longer breathing. "You know she didn't deserve that.."  
"Oh but she did. You all do." Siegrain replied. He then stood back up and turned to Rylo and Evanee's direction. He then began to broadcast his voice for everyone to hear. "Twilight Zone. You have been charged for aiding a criminal, breaking and entering into the council stronghold, and aiding the attempt of an escape of criminals." He then turns back to the lacrima screen. "Black Phoenix. You've been charged with aiding a criminal. That's right, you may not be here, but I know you're listening and you're just as guilty. Fairy Tail and White Eclipse, you're charges have already been discussed, and that was with the Zeref and apocalypse case." A small smile appears on the bluenette's face. "I hear by drop all of the charges from each guild."  
"What!?" The council guards, captains, wardens, and even the mages all gave a collective spurt of shock to Siegrain's decision. "You heard me. All charges are dropped."  
"What are you up to Siegrain?" Erza asked in a sneering tone. "Ah, you know me so well, Erza." He replied. The council leader then turned back to the screens. "Instead of having you all rot in prison, you four guilds, now work for me."  
"As if we'd do that!" Evanee spat out, now wincing as Rizu drives his knee into her spine a bit more.  
"You don't have much of a choice. It's either that, or hop in the chair that Skye just experienced." He grins towards Evanee, winks, and then moves back to the screens. "So welcome to the team, you four guilds. And I dare you to not cooperate. Also! Fairy Tail! Your alliances with Sabertooth, Blue Pegasus, Mermaid Heel, Lamia Scale and Quatro Cerberus...are now deemed illegal. In the meantime. Guards, release your captures."  
"Illegal!?" Erza protested. "What do you mean illegal!?"  
Lahar and Doranbolt hopped off of Reve, who kept his head down as the cuffs were removed from his wrists. "...I'm not leaving without Skye."  
Siegrain turned back to Reve with his brow arched. "She's dead, let it go."  
I know but...let me have the body. She's with us, so we'll bury her..." Reve strained his voice, trying to keep it from cracking as his raven colored hair covered his eyes. All that could be seen was the tears slowly flowing from them. Siegrain hesitated, but then nodded to the guard to release Skye from the chair. Reve walked over, and picked her up, now carrying her in his arms. The entire roof was quiet for the next moment, until Siegrain broke the silence. "Lahar, escort everyone off this island. I think Blue Pegasus's ship is fixed by now."  
Reve began slowly walking to the doors as he held Skye in his arms, a few tear drops splashing against her sternum. "I'm so sorry...I lied to you Skye... I said I'd always be there to protect you. I'm so sorry.."

The heartbeat became louder. Correll walked down the hallway, but finally stopped once he heard it. Curiosity got the best of him, and the blonde council captain turned around and walked back to where he left Kairi. Once arriving, he saw a standing Kairi. She was a bit hunched over as a small magic seal spun under her. "Uh, angel? Kairi?"  
"Skye...you killed her. So...I'll kill you. I'll take one of yours."  
"Kill me?" Correll began to snicker, then bursts into a short laughing fit. "Look, she deserved it, and you're in no condition to fight, let alone have the ability to kill me."  
The magic seal under Kairi continued to spin, picking up speed as she slowly raised her head. "I'll take one of yours...so says the fallen angel, Lucifer."  
"Lucifer?"  
"Siegrain, you're going to pay!"  
As Kairi yelled, the magic seal under her expanded exponentially. The sudden rise in magic power began to break the floor and ceiling apart, causing the remaining debris to ascend through the ceiling of the third and fourth floors.

Back on the roof, the beam of rising magic shot through the roof, just missing Seigrain himself as he fell backwards. The communication to the lacrima screens were now cut off. "What is that!?" The Bluenette questioned as the entire building began to shake vigorously.  
"That light..." Ceaser looked on from the ground, seemingly the only one who understood what was happening.

Back inside, Correll attempted to hold his ground as Kairi let out a vicious yell, nearly destroying the entire floor just from the preparations of what was to come alone. Kairi's attire was now replaced by a white, armored, v-neck top that extended to her hands, where it is fitted into red gloves, and is paired with a red under armor shirt. Her legs were now sheathed by white, form-fitting dress-like pants, that formed into red boots at her ankles. A black, lightning bolt shaped mark traveled from her left collar bone and ended at her right cheek bone. Her hair becomes curlier, and adopts a dark violet color.  
Correll stood in shock as he now stood across from the legendary angel takeover, Lucifer. He began backing up, until he tripped over how own feet, now scooting away. Kairi finally took a step forward, closing in on the captain.

Correll looked around for assistance or an exit, yet found neither. When he turned back to Kairi, she now stood right in front of him, towering over the blonde. Before he could speak, there was a right grasp around his neck as Kairi lifted him by his throat and held him up. Correll gagged and choked, swinging his feet as he looked into the eyes of the angel takeover: Lucifer.

"Kairi...please..."


End file.
